jr 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

IRVINE 


GIFT  OF 

Helen  Mason 


YOUNG    CONVERTS; 


OB, 


By  ROBERT  BOYD,  D.D., 

AUTHOR  OF   "  NONE  BUT  CHRIST  ;"    "GLAD  TIDINGS;"    AND  "  FOOD  FOB 
THB    LAMBS." 


•'  As  many  as  received  Him,  to  them  gave  He  power  to  become  the 
sons  of  God,"— JoHJJ. 

"  So  run  that  ye  may  obtain."— Paul. 


CHICAGO: 
CHURCH     AND     GOODMAN, 

51  La  Salle  Stkeet. 
186€. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1865,  by 

CHURCH    AND    GOODMAN, 

li:  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States, 

for  tlie  Northern  District  of  Illinois. 


I-  • 

134 


Church,  Goodman  &  Donnbllbt, 

Printers, 

51  &  58  La  Salle  Street,  Chioaoo. 


CONTENTS. 


PASB 

I.  A  Good  Beginning   -        .        •       .       _      7 
II.  Making  a  Public  Profession         -        -        19 

III.  Spiritual  Growth 34 

lY.  Evidences  of  Spiritual  Growth   -        .       46 

V.  Duties  in  the  Church        -        -        -        -    C4 

VI.  Duties  to  the  Pastor    -        -        -        -        82 

VII.  Duties  in  the  Sabbath  School  •        -  101 

VIII.  Duties  in  the  World      ....      115 

IX.  Foes  to  Grace 130 

X,  Helps  and  Hindrances  ...      145 


I. 

A  GOOD  BEGINNING. 


TAKE  it  for  granted  that  my  reader 
is  really  a  converted  soul.  That,  cast- 
•^Cfing  from  you  all  other  dependence, 
^  you  now  rest  peacefully  upon  the 
atoning  work  of  Christ,  and  that  your  faith 
in  him  has  wrought  by  love  and  purified 
your  heart.  I  ask  not  how  this  great 
change  has  been  brought  about,  nor  what 
has  been  the  direct  agency  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  blessed  to  bring  you  to  Jesus. 
Whether  you  have  passed  through  a  long 
process  of  convictions,  of  alternate  fears 
and  hopes ;  or  whether,  like  most  of  the 


8  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

conversions  mentioned  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, jou  were  suddenly  brought  to  sub- 
mit yourself  to  Christ's  method  of  salvation, 
is  now  of  no  great  consequence.  You  are 
now  in  Christ,  and  that  is  the  really  vital 
point.  The  great  matter  upon  which  two 
eternities  turn — upon  which  life  and  death, 
heaven  and  hell  depend  —  your  personal 
faith  in  Christ,  is  now  settled,  and  well 
settled  ;  and  I  thank  God  on  your  behalf. 

Dear  Keader,  I  congratulate  you  on  the 
high  honor,  the  lofty  distinction,  to  which 
the  mighty  grace  of  God  has  lifted  you. 
The  greatest  gift  that  God  can  bestow  upon 
a  creature  is  himself.  You  are  now  an  heir 
of  God.  You  are  able  to  say  with  holy 
boldness,  "  The  Beloved  is  mine,  and  I  am 
His."  The  Apostle  John  said  to  the  con- 
verts of  his  day,  "  Beloved,  now  are  we  the 
sons  of  God;"  and  we  may  rest  assured 
that  the  unchanging  Saviour  has  not 
abridged  the  honors  and  privileges  of  his 
people  since  that  time.  Once  in  Christ  by 
a  living  faith,  and  the  whole  fulness  of 
God  is  yours.     Your  feelings  and  framea 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  9 

are  nothing  ;  ceremonies,  and  notions,  and 
creeds,  and  ordinances,  and  formal  partici- 
pation in  worship,  are  all  nothing  without 
Christ ;  but  with  trust  in  him,  there  is  not 
any  height  of  gloiy  and  honor  in  the  whole 
universe  to  which  a  creature  can  attain,  to 
which  you  may  not  ascend.  If  you  have 
faith  in  Jesus,  then  you  are  a  new  creature ; 
if  a  new  creature,  then  you  are  a  son  of 
God ;  if  a  son  of  God,  then  you  are  "  an 
heir  of  God,  and  a  joint  heir  with  Christ." 
Thus  united  to  Jesus,  your  inheritance  is 
sure,  for  he  is  now  in  full  possession  of  it. 

You  see,  then,  what  a  great  thing  it  is  to 
be  a  Christian.  Indeed  it  will  take  all 
eternity  to  unfold  to  us  the  greatness  of 
the  privilege ;  and  at  present  we  can  only 
wander  around  the  edge  of  the  boundless 
subject  and  exclaim,  "  It  doth  not  yet  ap- 
pear what  we  shall  be."  As  Eowland  Hill 
once  said,  when  striving  to  illustrate  God's 
love  to  his  people,  "  I  am  unable  to  reach 
the  lofty  theme !  yet  I  do  not  think  that 
the  smallest  fish  that  swims  in  the  bound- 
less ocean  ever  complains  of  the  immeasur- 
2 


10  YOUNG  CONVERTS ;    OR, 

able  vastness  of  the  deep.  So  it  is  with 
me  :  I  can  phmge,  with  my  puny  capacity, 
into  a  subject,  the  immensity  of  which  I 
shall  never  be  able  fully  to  comprehend  !  " 
For  a  child  of  wrath,  a  slave  of  Satan,  a 
condemned  criminal,  an  heir  of  hell,  to  be 
raised  to  a  height  of  privilege  and  glory  to 
which  even  angels  do  not  attain,  is  most 
wonderful  to  the  thoughtful  mind  !  And 
that  you,  who,  but  a  few  days  ago,  were 
full  of  enmity  against  God,  your  heart  set 
in  you  to  do  evil,  your  footsteps  hastening 
down  the  broad  road  to  destruction,  should 
now  be  what  you  are,  and  where  you  are, 
is  a  miracle  of  grace.  No  wonder  that  the 
holy  angels  rejoiced  over  you  in  the  happy 
hour  of  your  espousals  to  Christ.  No  won- 
der that  the  friends  who  had  so  long  praj^ed 
and  longed  for  your  conversion,  rejoiced 
over  you  with  such  a  solemn  gladness.  And 
no  wonder  that  you  yourself  rejoiced  "  with 
a  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory." 

And  now  that  you  are  a  Christian,  it 
becomes  a  most  important  question,  What 
kind  of  a  Christian  are  you  going  to  b.e  ? 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  11 

Are  you  going  to  be  one  modeled  after 
men's  opinions,  or  after  the  Bible  standard  ? 
Men  have  a  way  of  turning  aside  the  point 
of  Divine  truth  on  this  subject  from  their 
consciences,  by  saying,  Christians  ought  to 
do  so  and  so ;  but  the  "Word  of  God  does 
not  speak  in  this  way.  It  does  not  say  that 
Christians  ought  to  be  the  light  of  the  world, 
but  that  they  are  so.  It  does  not  say  that 
they  oxight  to  be  holy,  but  that  they  are 
possessed  of  that  character.  It  is  not 
merely  that  they  ought  to  be  bold  and 
faithful  witnesses  for  Christ  in  this  dark 
and  sinful  world,  but  that  they  really  ai^e 
so  testifying.  That  is  a  solemn  passage, 
"For  other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than 
that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ.  Now  if 
any  man  build  upon  this  foundation  gold, 
silver,  precious  stones,  wood,  hay,  stubble, 
every  man's  work  shall  be  made  manifest ; 
for  the  day  shall  declare  it,  because  it  shall 
be  revealed  by  fire  ;  and  the  fire  shall  try 
every  man's  work  of  what  sort  it  is."  (1  Cor. 
iii.  11-13).  Here  is  a  good  foundation,  a 
most  precious  foundation,  the  best  that  even 


12  YOUNG  CONVERTS  *,    OK, 

God  could  lay,  firm  and  secure  as  his  eter- 
nal throne  —  but  what  are  you  going  to 
build  upon  it  ?  Shall  it  be  the  wood,  hay, 
and  stubble  of  worldly-mindedness,  carnal 
affections,  vile  tempers,  and  low,  narrow, 
selfish  views  ?  Or  shall  it  be  the  gold,  or 
silver,  and  precious  stones  of  holiness,  self- 
denial,  heavenly  affections  and  earnest  love 
to  (jod  and  man,  showing  itself  in  works  of 
faith  and  in  labors  of  love  ?  Depend  upon 
it  that  day  by  day,  and  little  by  little,  you 
are  building  up  some  kind  of  character,  and 
it  becomes  you  to  see  well  to  it,  that  it  is 
such  as  will  honor  the  glorious  foundation, 
and  such  as  the  fires  of  judgment  will  not 
have  to  burn  up. 

The  temple  of  a  holy  life,  built  upon  the 
foundation  laid  in  Ziou,  greatly  honors 
God,  and  commands  the  admiration  of  even 
bad  men.  The  following  fact,  related  by 
one  familiar  with  all  the  circumstances,  will 
illustrate  this  :  "  In  one  of  the  older  States 
resided  an  infidel,  the  owner  of  a  saw-mill, 
situated  by  the  side  of  the  highway  over 
which  a  large  portion  of  a  Christian  con- 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  13 

gregation  passed  every  Sabbath  to  and  from 
the  church.  This  infidel,  having  no  regard 
for  the  Sabbath,  was  as  busy,  and  his  mill 
was  as  noisy  on  that  holy  day  as  any  other. 
Before  long  it  was  observed,  however,  that 
a  certain  time  before  service  the  mill  would 
stop,  remain  silent,  and  appear  to  be  desert- 
ed for  a  few  moments,  when  its  noise  and 
clatter  would  re-commence,  and  continue 
till  about  the  close  of  the  service,  when  for 
a  short  time  it  again  ceased.  It  was  soon 
noticed  that  one  of  the  deacons  of  the 
church  passed  the  mill  to  the  place  of  wor- 
ship during  the  silent  interval,  and  so  punc- 
tual was  he  to  the  hour  that  the  infidel 
knew  when  to  stop  his  mill,  so  that  it  should 
be  silent  when  the  deacon  was  passing,  al- 
though he  paid  no  regard  to  the  passing  of 
others.  On  being  asked  why  he  paid  this 
mark  of  respect  to  the  deacon,  he  replied, 
"  The  deacon  professes  just  what  the  rest  of 
you  do  ;  but  he  lives^  also,  such  a  life,  that 
it  makes  me  feel  bad  here  (putting  his  hand 
upon  his  heart)  to  run  my  mill  while  he  is 
passing." 


14  YOUNG  CONVERTS ;    OK, 

Now,  it  is  undeniable  that  there  are  large 
numbers,  who,  after  their  professed  conver- 
sion, drop  out  of  sight,  and  you  would 
never  know  that  they  were  Christians,  un- 
less they  told  you  so,-  or  you  found  their 
names  upon  the  church  book.  It  is  true, 
every  Christian  cannot  occupy  a  prominent 
and  commanding  position  in  the  work  of 
Christ's  kingdom,  but  every  one  can  be  a 
worker  for  Jesus,  and  can  boldly  unfurl  his 
colors,  and  let  it  be  known  whose  side  he  is 
on. 

A  minister  was  once  asked  to  make  a 
speech  at  the  anniversary  of  one  of  our 
great  benevolent  societies.  When  he  got 
upon  the  platform  he  looked  around  for  the 
friend  who  invited  him,  supposing  him  to 
be  the  president  of  the  society.  At  length 
he  saw  him  in  an  obscure  corner  of  the 
crowded  house ;  and  when  the  meeting  was 
over  he  came  forth  with  a  glad  countenance, 
thanking  one  and  another  for  their  efibrts, 
and  expressing  great  delight  at  the  pros- 
perity of  the  cause. 

"  But,"  said  the  speaker  referred  to,  "  I 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WATS.  15 

thought  you  were  the  president  of  the  so- 
ciety ? " 

"  O,  no,  I  am  not,"  he  replied,  with  great 
modesty. 

"  Then,  you  are  one  of  the  vice-presi- 
dents, surely  ?"  said  the  speaker. 

"No,  I  am  not." 

"  Are  you  the  secretary  then,  or  the  trea- 
surer ? " 

"  No,  neither  of  these." 

"  Then,  what  are  you  ?  What  office  do 
you  fill  in  the  board  ?  " 

"  None,  sir  ;  I  have  no  office,  and  never 
had,  unless,  if  you  choose,  you  may  call 
me  the  pack-horse  of  the  enterprise  !" 

What  a  rebuke  was  the  conduct  of  this 
noble  man  to  those  who  will  do  nothing, 
unless  they  can  do  some  great  thing  ;  who 
will  take  no  position,  unless  they  can  take 
some  great  and  commanding  position! 
They  must  be  made  prominent  workers, 
centering  in  themselves  the  attention  of  all, 
or  they  will  do  no  work  at  all.  This  good 
man  cared  not  what  post  of  duty  he  was 
appointed  to,  nor  how  humble  the  work  as- 


16  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OE, 

signed  bim  ;  he  did  it  heartily  as  unto  the 
Lord  and  not  unto  man.  Resolve  in  your 
heart  that  you  will  be  a  laborer^  not  a 
loiterer^  in  the  Lord's  vineyard;  that  whether 
your  life  is  to  be  a  long  one,  or  very  short, 
as  men  use  the  term,  it  shall  be  filled  with 
Christian  activity.  A  life  is  not  to  be  num- 
bered by  years,  but  by  what  a  man  has 
done  for  God.  McCheyne,  Summerfield, 
Nott,  and  Dudley  Tyng,  all  died  young, 
and  yet  they  were  old  in  fruits  unto  holi- 
ness— their  life's  work  done  and  well  done. 
Let  yours,  like  theirs,  be  a  life  in  earnest, 
a  life  that  shows,  not  religion  as  something 
among  other  things,  but  as  absolutely  every- 
thing. Let  yours  be  a  consecrated  life ; 
soul,  body  and  spirit — your  time,  talents, 
and  property,  all  wholly  dedicated  to  God. 
Let  me  warn  you  of  one  thing — as  you 
have  begun  by  finding  peace  in  Christ,  con- 
tinue to  seek  it  there.  Many  young  con- 
verts make  great  mistakes  here.  At  first, 
their  feelings  and  aflections  have  been 
warm  and  gushing.  In  the  fire  and  fer- 
vency of  their  first  love  they  feel  as  if  they 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  IT 

could  sing  all  the  day  long  ;  and  when 
these  glowing  feelings,  from  whatever 
cause,  begin  to  decline,  thej  sink  into  des- 
pondency, and  feel  as  if  they  had  lost  their 
religion.  But  religion  is  a  thing  of  prin- 
ciple, not  of  mere  feeling.  Your  religion 
does  not  consist  of  your  feelings ;  it  con- 
sists of  your  faith  in  Jesus,  and  your  readi- 
ness to  be  governed  in  all  things  by  his 
will.  Frames  and  feelings  change  with 
the  state  of  our  health,  the  state  of  the 
weather,  the  circumstances  in  which  we  are 
placed,  and  through  a  great  variety  of 
moral  and  physical  causes ;  but  Jesus 
Christ  changes  never.  He  is  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever. 

We  have  known  some  who  never  thouo-ht 
they  had  any  enjoyment  of  religion,  unless 
they  were  in  the  midst  of  a  high  excite- 
ment. The  meeting  that  did  not  melt 
them  into  tears,  or  lift  them  up  to  the 
heights  of  ecstatic  rapture,  was  not  a  good 
meeting.  The  calm  statement  of  Divine 
truth,  the  earnest  study  of  the  Bible  to 
know  the  will  of  God,  the  pray  erf uln  ess 

3 


18  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR,  ETC. 

and  the  self-examination  of  the  closet,  all 
seem  to  them  dull  and  uninteresting.  They 
are  like  a  habitual  reader  of  exciting  and 
sensational  novels ;  they  have  no  relish  for 
what  is  solid  and  instructive.  My  dear 
reader,  avoid  this  at  the  very  beginning  of 
your  Christian  career,  and  let  Jesus  alone, 
who  is  the  Author,  be  the  Finisher  of  your 
faith. 


II. 

MAKING  A  PUBLIC  PROFESSIOl!^. 


HERE  is  not  a  nobler  sight  in  the 
world  than  to  see  a  man  commit  hira- 
fj^  self  unreservedly  to  the  best  of  causes 
'^■'  — the  cause  of  Christ ;  determined  to 
stand  by  it  at  all  hazards  ;  to  live  for  it,  to 
work  for  it,  to  suffer  for  it,  and,  if  need  be, 
to  die  for  it ;  but  never  to  forsake  it.  Such 
a  sight  is  morally  sublime,  and  challenges 
the  admiration  of  all  who  are  capable  of 
appreciating  moral  beauty.  Said  David, 
"  I  will  pay  my  vows  unto  the  Lord  now,^ 
in  the  presence  of  all  his  people." 

iSouu  as  a  ^ul  is  converted,  it  becomes 
immediately  an  imperative  duty  to  make  a 


20  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OE, 

public  profession  of  attachment  to  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Some  churches  are  in  the  habit  of 
keeping  young  converts  back  for  a  time,  to 
prove  their  sincerity  and  their  firmness. 
As  a  pastor,  I  have  formerly,  to  some  ex- 
tent, encouraged  this  practice,  in  some 
cases  ;  and  I  am  now  sorry  for  it.  It  has 
not  a  shadow  of  support  in  the  Word  of 
God.  When  Christ  sent  forth  his  disciples 
clothed  with  his  high  commission  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  and  to  establish  churches,  the 
promised  Spirit  accompanied  the  word 
spoken  by  them,  and  in  some  cases  thou- 
sands were  converted,  and  on  the  same 
day,  often  in  the  same  hour,  were  baptized 
and  added  to  the  church.  To  put  a  tender 
little  lamb  out  on  a  snow-bank,  exposed  to 
the  bleak  winds,  to  see  whether  it  will  live, 
is  entirely  a  modern  invention.  The  prim- 
itive churches  were  never  guilty  of  such 
folly.  They  required  a  profession  of  con- 
version, of  repentance  towards  God,  and  of 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus ;  and  where  this 
was  given,  and  there  was  nothing  in  the 
life  of  the  candidate  to  contradict  the  pro- 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  21 

fession,  they  were  at  once  baptized  and 
added  to  the  church.  It  is  true  thej  were 
sometimes  deceived,  and  admitted  unwor- 
thy persons,  just  as  churches  are  deceived 
now  ;  but  that  belongs  to  the  imperfection 
of  human  nature,  and  is  an  evil  that  no 
amount  of  delay  in  the  reception  of  mem- 
bers will  either  mitigate  or  prevent.  It  is 
your  duty  as  a  Christian  at  once  to  offer 
yourself  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  if 
they  throw  any  delay  in  your  way,  the 
the  responsibility  is  theirs,  not  yours. 

But  you  may  say,  "  Can  I  not  be  as  good 
a  Christian  without  belonging  to  a  church 
as  with  it  ? "  To  this  I  can  give  a  most 
decided  answer  in  the  negative.  No;  you 
cannot.  Indeed  the  question  itself  is  ab- 
surd. It  is  equivalent  to  asking,  "  Cannot 
I  be  as  good  a  Christian  without  obeying 
Christ  as  with  it  ?  "  Christ  established  his 
church  upon  earth.  He  purchased  her 
with  his  own  blood.  He  laid  the  founda- 
tion upon  which  she  is  built  with  his  own 
bleeding  hands.  He  has  appointed  her  or- 
dinances and  her  government ;  established 


22  YOUNa  CONVERTS  *,    OE, 

her  ofRcers,  and  given  them  their  gifts  and 
qualifications  for  her  special  edification. 
He  has  watched  over  her  in  all  ages,  and 
has  pledged  his  princely  word  that  "  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  her ;" 
and  now,  do  you  think  that  it  can  be  agree- 
able to  the  Saviour's  will  to  see  his  church 
neglected  by  his  professed  followers  ?  No. 
To  live  out  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is  to 
live  in  sin,  in  constant  disobedience,  and 
this  must  bring  condemation  and  darkness 
upon  the  mind.  The  church  is  the  Chris- 
tian's home,  while  upon  earth.  There  he 
is  supported  and  comforted,  and  fitted  for 
the  society  of  the  just  made  perfect,  the 
church  of  the  first-born,  written  in  Heaven. 
Though  the  church  here  is  perfect  in  her 
Great  Head,  she  is  not  perfect  in  her  mem- 
bers. They  have  their  imperfections,  and 
evil  tempers ;  jangling  and  contention 
sometimes  mar  her  holy  beauty ;  but  her 
most  pious  members  can  say,  "  Oh  !  Zion, 
with  all  thy  faults  I  love  thee  still !  " 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  23 

' '  Beyond  my  highest  joy, 

I  prize  her  heavenly  ways  ; 
Her  sweet  communion,  solemn  vows, 
Her  hymns  of  love  and  praise." 

"  For  her  my  tears  shall  fall  ; 
For  her  my  prayers  ascend  ; 
To  her  my  cares  and  toils  he  given, 
Till  toils  and  cares  shall  end. ' ' 

For  those  who  try  to  be  Christians  with- 
out joining  the  church,  there  is  another 
consideration  worthy  of  attention.  If  it  is 
right  for  you  to  remain  out  of  the  church, 
it  is  right  for  another  to  do  it ;  and  if  it  is 
right  for  two  to  do  it,  it  would  be  right  for 
two  thousand,  or  for  all  Christians  to  do  it. 
Thus,  on  the  principle  mentioned,  there 
would  be  no  churches,  no  places  of  wor- 
ship, no  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  no  bond  of 
union  to  bind  Christians  together,  no  or- 
ganization by  which  the  body  of  the  faith- 
ful could  work  together  for  the  overthrow 
of  evil,  and  the  establishment  of  good  in 
the  world.  "Would  this  be  a  desirable  state 
of  things  ?  You  feel  that  it  would  not,  and 
yet  as  far  as  your  influence  goes  on  this 
point  it  leads  to  just  such  results.      Our 


24  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

Lord  says,  "  He  that  is  not  with  me  is 
against  me,"  and  the  same  is  true  concern- 
ing his  church.  If  you  are  not  with  it,  you 
are  counted  against  it,  at  least  to  a  certain 
extent.  The  world  will  point  to  you  as  one 
who  has  something  against  the  church,  or 
else  you  would  have  cast  in  your  lot  with 
her ;  and  the  better  vour  character  and  re- 
putation,  the  greater  damage  your  standing 
aloof  will  do.  The  scoffers  will  say  that 
you  are  too  good  a  man  to  have  anytliing 
to  do  with  such  people.  They  will  count 
you  on  their  side. 

But  there  are  some  young  converts  who 
are  kept  back  by  conscientious,  though 
mistaken  views,  in  regard  to  themselves. 
One  says,  "I  feel  utterly  un\vorthy  to 
belong  to  Christ's  Church."  Now,  this 
self- distrust  is  a  good  thing  when  kept  in 
its  proper  place.  True  faith  in  Jesus  al- 
ways has  connected  with  it  self-distrust,  for 
before  we  can  depend  entirely  on  him,  we 
must  be  emptied  of  self.  It  has  been  com- 
pared to  a  young  tree ;  the  trunk  goes 
upward  from  the  little  seed,  and  the  root 


BEGINNEK8  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  25 

goes  downward  from  the  same  seed  ;  grow- 
ing and  springing  in  diiierent  directions 
from  the  same  source.     So  from  the  same 
seed  of  faith  in  Christ,  springs  upwards 
confidence   toward   God,   and   downwards 
distrust  in  ourselves.     But  if  this  distrust 
is  used  to  lead  us  to  neglect  Christ's  plain 
commands,  it  is  prostituted  to  a  bad  object. 
It  is  turning   the  grace  of  God  into  sin. 
Christ  does  not  ask  you  to  make  a  public 
profession  of  your  faith  because  you  are 
worthy.     It  was  not  because  you  were  wor- 
thy that  he  pardoned  your  sins,  and  shed 
his  love  abroad  in  your  heart ;  and  he  asks 
you  now  to  show  your  love  to  him  by  keep- 
ing his  commands,  and  doing  those  things 
that  will  be  pleasing  in  his  sight  from  a 
principle  of  right. 

There  are  others  who  say,  "  I  am  afraid 
to  make  a  public  profession,  lest  I  should 
fall  away  and  dishonor  it."  This  sounds 
very  luunble,  but  it  really  springs  from 
pride  of  heart.  It  goes  upon  the  principle 
that  you  are  to  be  your  own  support  and  to 
stand  without  Divine  support.  Did  God 
4 


26  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

make  you  a  Christian,  or  did  you  make 
yourself  one?  And  if  he  made  you  a 
Christian,  do  you  not  think  that  he  is  able 
to  keep  you  one  ?  "  O,  thou  of  little  faith, 
wherefore  dost  thou  doubt?"  He  who 
gives  the  strength  to  do  one  duty,  can  sup- 
port in  the  discharge  of  another.  Go  on. 
boldly,  and  in  the  path  of  right  you  have 
nothing  to  fear.  The  Master  you  serve  will 
surround  you  with  invisible  armor,  so  that 
none  can  do  you  hurt.  The  promises  oi 
God  will  stand  up  around  you  like  the 
mountains  around  Jerusalem. 

This  reminds  me  of  an  incident  which 
occurred  on  board  a  British  ship  at  the  bat- 
tle of  the  JMile.  The  narrator  says  :  "There 
was  but  one  Bible  among  seven  hundred 
men.  This  was  owned  by  a  pious  sailor, 
who  did  not  forget  to  let  its  light  shine  be- 
fore men.  He  read  it  over  to  others,  and 
at  length,  by  its  means,  a  little  praying  cir- 
cle was  formed,  numbering  thirteen  in  all. 
Jnst  before  the  eno-agement  thev  all  met, 
and  commended  themselves  to  God  in 
prayer,  expecting  never  again  to  meet  in 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WATS.  27 

this  world.  Their  ship  was  in  the  thickest 
of  the  storm,  and  all  around  their  comrades 
fell,  never  to  rise  again.  At  one  gun, 
where  two  of  the  number  were  stationed, 
three  other  soldiers  were  killed  by  one  ball, 
but  there  they  stood  firm  to  their  posts,  clad 
in  an  armor  invisible  to  mortal  eyes,  but 
more  impregnable  than  steel.  When  the 
battle  was  over,  those  who  were  left  had 
agreed  to  meet  if  possible.  What  was  their 
joy  to  find  the  whole  thirteen  assembled, 
not  one  of  them  even  wounded.  What  a 
thanksgiving  meeting  that  must  have  been !" 

Now,  my  reader,  the  same  God  who  pre- 
served these  men  from  physical  danger, 
can  keep  you  from  all  moral  danger;  so 
that  in  the  severest  temptations,  when  the 
fiery  darts  of  the  enemy  fall  thick  around 
you,  the  Divine  shield  will  defend  you,  and 
you  will  stand  "  steadfast  and  immovable." 

Sometimes  persons  are  kept  back  from 
making  a  public  profession  of  their  faith  by 
the  feai'  of  man.  They  fear  the  disj)leasure 
of  their  ungodly  relations,  or  the  sneers  of 
their  former  companions,  or  friends.    They 


28  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

dreaxi,  too,  to  appear  before  the  great  con- 
gregation and  testify  to  what  Christ  has 
done  for  theh'  souls.     This  is  very  unwor- 
thy of  those  for  whose  salvation  the  blessed 
Saviour  "  endured  the  Cross  and  despised 
the  shame."     That  gracious  Friend  tells 
us,  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let 
him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross 
daily."     We  must  often  sacrifice  the  less 
that  we  may   enjoy  the  greater.  We  must 
often  pass  by  the  favor  of  men   and  the 
smiles  of  the  world,  in  order  that  we  may 
hare  the  favor  of  God,  and  the  happiness 
of  a  good  conscience.     These  are  the  plain 
and  searching   principles   that  Jesus  lays 
down,  and  we  can  see  that  they  are  highly 
reasonable  and  proper.    If  any  are  disposed 
to  shrink  back  from  them,  it  must  be  be- 
cause they  prefer  the  favor  of  men  to  that 
of  God,  or  because  they  are  ashamed  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.    "  Whosoever  shall  be  ashamed 
of  me  and  of  my  words,  of  him  shall  the 
Son  of  man  be  ashamed,  when  he  shall 
come  in  his  own  glory,  and  in  his  Father's, 
and  of  the  holy  angels."  . 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZTOn's  WATS.  29 

You  must  come  out  from  this  halting, 
hesitating,  compromising  spirit,  or  you  can 
never  be  a  happy  and  a  useful  Christian. 
Your  mind  will  be  tossed  to  and  fro  by 
conflicting  influences,  and  you  will  grope 
about,  wrapped  up  in  a  dark  and  gloomy 
haze  of  doubt  and  of  uncertainty.  Suppose, 
when  Paul  was  converted  that  he  had  tried 
to  keep  it  all  to  himself  in  order  to  avoid 
persecution,  what  would  his  religion  ever 
have  amounted  to  ?  Or  if  Luther,  when  he 
discovered  in  his  Bible  the  doctrine  of  jus- 
tification by  faith,  had  kept  it  all  in  his  own 
heart,  and  in  his  cell,  lest  he  should  get  in- 
volved in  some  trouble,  would  God  ever 
have  honored  him  as  he  did  ?  Ko ;  the 
principle  that  God  acts  on  in  such  matters 
is,  "  Them  that  honor  me,  I  will  honor." 

Perhaps  my  reader  has  some  difliculty 
about  the  denomination  of  Christians  with 
which  to  identify  himself.  This  is  a  mat- 
ter of  importance,  and  demands  the  prayer- 
ful and  careful  study  of  the  Word  of  God. 
You  should  not  join  a  church  because  your 
friends  or  companions  are  going  to  join  it, 


30  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OK, 

or  have  already  done  so.  It  is  no  good 
reason  for  joining  a  church  that  you  think 
you  would  feel  more  at  home  there.  It 
should  not  be  a  matter  of  mere  feeling,  but 
of  intelligent  principle,  what  church  you 
shall  join.  The  Bible  is  the  only  standard 
of  appeal  in  all  matters  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice; and  after  an  honest  and  faithful  ex- 
amination of  that  holy  book,  you  should 
join  that  body  of  Christians  which  you  con- 
scientiously believe  to  be  nearest  to  that 
Divine  rule. 

I  believe  that  the  church  to  which  I 
belong  comes  nearer  to  the  faith  and  prac- 
tice of  the  church  established  by  Christ  and 
his  Apostles  than  any  other  that  I  know  of. 
If  I  did  not  so  believe,  it  would  be  my  duty 
to  leave  it.  If  I  knew  of  any  other  nearer 
to  the  Bible,  it  would  be  my  duty  to  join 
it.  Every  intelligent  and  conscientious 
Christian,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  acts  on  the 
same  principle.  A  sham  liberality  would 
no  doubt  call  this  bigotry ;  but  those  who 
have  learned  to  "  contend  earnestly  for  the 
faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  are  not 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS,  31 

easily  frightened  by  big-swelling  words  of 
vanity.  On  this  matter  let  the  Word  of 
God  be  your  only  guide. 

But  though  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to 
counsel  you  as  to  your  denominational 
relations,  I  do  most  earnestly  entreat  you 
to  place  yourself  under  a  faithful  and  evan- 
gelical ministry.  Attend  the  ministry  of 
no  man  who  does  not  preach  Christ,  in  the 
fullest  sense  of  the  word.  Christ  may  be 
in  his  creed,  but  if  he  is  not  in  his  sermons 
your  soul  will  starve  under  him.  Mr.  Spur- 
geon  tells  us  that  when  he  was  awakened, 
he  wandered  from  church  to  church  to  find 
out  how  he  could  be  saved,  but  could  not 
hear  the  Gospel.  One  minister  preached 
the  experience  of  the  people  of  God,  and 
he  felt  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  that ; 
and  another  told  him  of  the  blessedness  of 
the  regenerated,  and  he  felt  that  that  did 
not  apply  to  him ;  on  one  Sabbath  the  text 
would  be  "Be  not  deceived,  God  is  not 
mocked;"  and  again,  "The  wages  of  sin 
is  death."  He  tells  us  that  he  became 
worse  and  worse  after  hearing  discourses 


32  YOUNG  CONYEKTS  ;    OK, 

that  nearly  drove  him  to  despair ;  and  then 
would  come  the  text  for  good  people,  but 
not  a  word  for  him. 

At  last  he  went  to  hear  a  very  humble 
preacher,  but  his  text  was,  "  Look  unto  me 
and  be  saved  all  ye  ends  of  the  earth." 
That  was  what  he  wanted  to  hear.  He  felt 
that  it  was  intended  for  him.  "Look, 
look,"  said  the  preacher,  "to  Jesus,  and 
you  shall  be  saved  this  moment,  you  shall 
be  lightened  of  your  burden."  Spurgeon 
tells  us  that  he  did,  then  and  there,  look  to 
Jesus  b}^  faith,  and  he  felt  as  if  he  could 
have  sprung  into  the  air,  for  his  burden  of 
sin  was  gone. 

A  minister  may  preach  ably  and  elo- 
quently ;  he  may  be  a  good  man,  and 
preach  a  great  deal  of  valuable  truth ;  he 
may  even  preach  a  great  deal  about  Christ, 
and  yet  not  preach  Christ  in  the  scripture 
sense  of  the  term.  Place  yourself  under 
the  instruction  of  one  who  will  delight  fre 
quently  to  lead  you  around  the  cross. 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  "WATS.  33 

"  Oppressed  with  noon-day's  scorcliing  heat, 
To  yonder  cross  I  fiee  ; 
Beneath  its  slielter  take  my  seat ; 
No  shade  like  this  for  me  1 

"  Beneath  that  cross  clear  waters  burst, 
A  fountain  sparkling  free  ; 
And  tliere  I  quench  my  desert  thirst ; 
No  spring  like  this  for  me  ! 

' '  For  burdened  ones  a  resting-place, 
Beside  that  cross  I  see  ; 
Here  I  cast  off  my  weariness  ; 
No  rest  like  this  for  me  1 " 


III. 


SPIRITUAL    GROWTH. 


■0^  UCII  is  said  in  the  present  day  about 
^J||J][[^  human  progress.     In   praise  of  it, 

W  poetry  and  eloquence  have  taken 
their  loftiest  flights.  Ours  has  so 
often  been  called  a  progressive  age,  and  we 
have  so  often  been  called  a  progressive 
people,  that  with  all  our  vanity  we  are  be- 
ginning to  tire  of  the  endless  repetition. 
Progress  is  doubtless  a  good  thing,  if  it 
only  be  of  the  right  kind.  Many  suppose 
that  by  repudiating  what  is  old,  and  eagerly 
adopting  what  is  7i'evj,  they  are  making 
progress.     Change,  however,  is  one  thing. 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  35 

and  true  progress  is  another.  All  true  pro- 
gress, such  as  is  pleasing  to  God,  must  come 
from  within,  not  from  without.  The  eagle 
might  have  wings  tied  upon  it,  but  it  could 
never  make  any  progress  with  them ;  it 
must  have  wings  that  grow  up  out  of  its  own 
body  with  which  to  soar  up  to  its  favorite 
peak  on  the  sky-piercing  mountain.  All 
true  human  progress  must  begin  in  the 
heart,  and  it  must  be  put  there  by  His  hand 
who  plants  the  glorious  galaxy  of  stars 
ur>Dn  the  dark  brow  of  night. 

We  all  know  that  the  body,  under  the 
influence  of  proper  food,  air,  and  exercise, 
is  capable  of  growth  in  strength,  and  in  the 
development  of  all  its  powers.  The  same 
law  of  growth  holds  good  in  regard  to  the 
deathless  soul.  That  was  a  remarkable 
wash  of  the  Apostle  John  for  his  beloved 
friend  Gains:  "I  wish  above  all  things 
that  thou  mayest  prosper,  and  be  in  health, 
even  as  thy  sonl  prospereth."  Alas  !  if  the 
measure  of  our  physical  health  were  to  be 
regulated  by  the  health  of  the  soul,  what  a 
nation   of  invalids   we   would   be.     How 


36  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

many  there  are  who  are  sensitively  alive 
to  the  wants  of  their  bodies,  but  utterly 
neglectful  of  the  immortal  part  lodged 
within !  Many  a  large,  sturdy,  vigorous 
body,  covers  a  poor,  weak,  sickly,  starved 
soul ;  so  that  the  disproportion  between  the 
soul  and  its  outward  covering,  is  as  great  as 
would  be  a  very  small  boy  clothed  in  his 
father's  garments. 

There  can  be  no  growth  without  life. 
Dead  things  do  not  grow,  but  decay.  You 
might  ornament  a  dead  tree  to  any  extent ; 
you  might  paint  and  varnish  over  the  dead, 
rotten  trunk  ;  but  unless  you  could  put  life 
there,  there  could  be  no  growth.  Nay,  in 
spite  of  all  your  ornamenting,  the  process 
of  decay  would  go  on  ;  and  one  dead  limb 
after  another  would  fall  down,  fit  only  for 
the  fire.  And  so  there  can  be  no  spiritual 
growth  unless  we  are  connected  with  Jesus 
by  a  living  faith.  He  says,  "I  am  the 
life."  The  branch  to  get  life  and  strength 
from  the  vine,  must  be  in  the  vine,  not 
merely  near  it.  It  might  be  tied  against 
the  vine,  but  it  would  get  no  strength,  and 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  37 

bear  no  fruit,  but  hang  there  an  unsightly 
object,  rustling  in  the  winds  of  heaven. 
Thus  a  man  may  be  connected  with  a 
church  by  an  outward  profession,  and  may 
remain  so  connected  for  many  years ;  but 
if  there  is  not  a  union  with  Christ  there 
can  be  no  spiritual  growth,  and  no  bring- 
ing forth  of  fruit  unto  holiness. 

The  Ottawa  river,  in  Canada,  at  certain 
seasons  of  the  year,  rises  to  a  great  height, 
and  then  suddenly  falls  again,  leaving  logs 
on  the  high  banks,  and  dead  branches  and 
other  rubbish  hanging  in  the  tops  of  the 
trees.  There  they  lie,  useless  things,  rot- 
ting in  the  sun  and  the  rain  that  are 
jnaking  other  things  grow.  I  have  often 
looked  sadly  upon  them,  and  thought  how 
like  those  Christless  professors,  who  in 
some  wild  flood  of  excitement  have  been 
swept  into  the  church,  and  when  the  ex- 
citement has  gone  down,  are  left  there 
with  no  spiritual  life  ! 

They  may  be  moral,  and  amiable,  and 
never  do  any  outward  act  of  public  sin  for 
which  they  can  be  cast  out  of  the  church ; 


38  YOUNG  converts;  or, 

but  tliey  are  spiritually  dead.  They  may 
bold  an  orthodox  creed ;  they  may  sing  and 
pray,  and  go  through  religious  duties  with 
mechanical  regularity ;  but  as  there  is  no 
Christ  in  their  religion,  there  is  no  life. 
Sometimes,  on  great  occasions,  they  may 
put  on  the  semblance  of  life,  just  as  a 
corpse  may  by  galvanism  be  made  to  roll 
its  eyes,  and  toss  wildly  its  lifeless  limbs  ; 
but  it  is  only  a  spasmodic  exertion  that 
soon  settles  down  into  the  stillness  and 
corruption  of  death.  Ah  !  how  sad  it  is  to 
look  upon  these  moral  automatons,  these 
types  of  the  old  Pharisee,  and  to  think  of 
how  few  of  them  are  even  likely  to  be 
saved.  Oh  !  that  the  Divine  Spirit  might 
give  efficacy  to  the  appeal,  "  Awake  thou 
that  sleepest,  arise  from  the  dead,  and 
Christ  shall  give  thee  light." 

Where  there  is  true  union  with  Christ, 
there  will  not  only  be  life,  but  growing 
life.  "  I  am  come  that  ye  mig)it  have  life, 
and  that  ye  might  have  it  more  abundantly.'''' 
But  our  eye  must  be  fixed  singly  upon 
Christ,  and  our  whole  hope  centred  in  him. 


BEGINNEKS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  39 

He  alone  must  be  our  streno-th.  We  must 
not  be  looking  partly  at  ourselves  and 
partly  at  Christ ;  now  glancing  at  our  own 
feelings  as  a  ground  of  hope,  and  then  at 
his  merits. 

It  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  young  con- 
verts to  make  great  mistakes  here.  Deeply 
conscientious,  they  dread  deceiving  them- 
selves ;  and  fervently  desirous  of  growing 
in  grace,  they  watch  and  analyze  every 
feelino;  and  emotion  of  their  minds.  In 
the  meantime,  while  thus  engaged,  their 
attention  is  turned  away  from  Jesus,  the 
great  source  of  all  spiritual  life  and 
growth ;  and  thus  they  find  themselves 
plunged  into  a  dark  jungle  of  doubts  and 
fears.  We  have  seen  children,  in  their 
great  anxiety  for  the  growth  of  their  little 
gardens,  keep  pulling  up  their  plants  every 
now  and  again  to  see  if  they  were  growing. 
The  farmer  who  would  pidl  up  his  corn  to 
measure  if  it  was  growing,  would  not  have 
much  of  a  crop  in  the  fall ;  and  that  Chris- 
tian who  turns  away  his  eyes  from  the 
Saviour  to  analyze  his  own  experience,  and 


40  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR 

who  is  constantly  putting  every  motive, 
feeling,  and  emotion,  on  the  rack,  to  make 
it  speak  something  good  concjerning  him- 
self, will  hnd  that,  instead  of  growth  and 
strength,  leanness  has  come  into  his  soul. 

My  dear  reader,  if  you  keep  a  constant 
nearness  to  Christ,  taking  him  as  your 
only  hope,  and  his  spotless  life  as  your 
bright  example,  there  will  be  seen  in  your 
life  a  spiritual  progress,  brighter  and  bright- 
er to  the  perfect  day.  With  knowledge  in 
your  mind,  grace  in  your  heart,  and  obedi- 
ence in  your  life,  there  will  be  such  a 
symmetry  of  character,  as  will  lead  men 
to  glorify  your  Father  in  heaven.  In  the 
hard  conflict  with  your  besetting  sins, 
■  Christ  will  be  your  strength ;  nor  will  he 
leave  you  till  your  last  foe  lies  vanquished 
on  the  field.  Kash  and  impetuous  passions 
will  be  displaced  by  calm  and  holy  repose 
in  God.  Unholy  bursts  of  imperious  tem- 
per will  be  subdued  by  the  meekness  of 
Jesus.  Peevish  impatience  will  give  way 
to  holy  submission  to  God's  holy  will. 
AYorldly-mindedness  will  be  overcome  by 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  41 

communion  witli  God,  and  a  clearer  con- 
ception of  tlie  grandeur  and  glory  of  eternal 
things. 

Eemember  tliat  all  growth  is  gradual.  It 
is  not  shooting  up  into  a  great  and  holy  man 
in  an  hour,  or  in  some  moment  of  strong 
religious  excitement,  or  of  hallowed  associ- 
ation. The  soul,  on  such  occasions,  may 
receive  a  heavenly  impetus  that  will  great- 
ly increase  its  strength  ;  but  its  real  growth 
will  be  a  progressive  work,  day  by  day. 
In  the  morning  let  the  thought  fill  your 
mind,  "  My  life  is  made  up  of  days,  and  as 
the  great  business  of  life  is  to  live  to  the 
glory  of  God,  how  can  I  best  glorify  Him 
to-day  ?"  Seek  earnestly  to  live  to  God 
for  that  one  day,  as  if  it  were  your  last. 
However  pressing  your  duties,  be  sure 
that  you  get  time  for  two  things — speaking 
to  God,  and  hearing  God  speak  to  you. 
By  speaking  to  God,  I  mean  prayer,  and 
by  hearing  God  speak  to  you,  I  mean 
reading  the  Bible. 

It  is  said  of  Col.  Gardiner,  that  when  in 
his  campaigns  he  had  to  march  before  day- 


4:2  YOUrO'G  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

break,  lie  always  made  a  point  of  rising 
early  enough  to  have  time  for  prayer  and 
reading  the  Scriptures.  Instead  of  mak- 
ing yonr  religion  bend  to  your  worldly 
convenience,  make  your  worldly  conveni- 
ence bend  to  your  religion.  Pray  earnestly 
and  believingly  for  growth  in  grace,  and 
for  strength  to  support  you  amid  the 
trials  and  temptations  of  life ;  but  do 
not  put  prayer  in  the  place  of  duties 
which  you  ought  to  do  yourself.  God 
says  you  are  to  watch  as  well  as  pray. 
Suppose  you  pray  that  God  would  give 
you  the  victory  over  some  besetting  sin, 
and  that  you  neglect  to  watch  against  that 
sin,  and  to  cut  off  every  temptation  to  its 
indulgence,  as  far  as  you  can,  you  cannot 
expect  God  to  answer  your  prayer.  God 
will  do  nothing  for  us  that  we  can  do  for 
ourselves.  Prayer  is  not  intended  to  en- 
courage indolence.  When  we  pray  for 
deliverance  from  evil,  and  victory  over 
our  sins,  we  must  watch,  and  tight,  and 
struggle  against  them,  or  else  our  prayer 
is  only  a  solemn  mockery.     God  brought 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WAYS.  43 

it  as  a  very  heavy  charge  against  Israel 
that  "  they  would  not  frame  their  doings 
to  turn  unto  their  God."  We  must  be  co- 
workers with  God  in  the  great  work  of 
growing  in  grace.  We  must  shun  the 
appearance  of  evil,  and  not  even  seem  to 
come  short. 

And  it  is  of  vital  importance  that  we 
have  daily  communion  with  God  through 
his  Word.  This  is  to  be  our  daily  bread — 
bread  for  the  soul.  "Man  liveth  not  by 
bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  cometh 
out  of  the  mouth  of  God."  You  would  not 
expect  a  child  to  grow  physically,  unless  it 
were  regularly  to  eat  nourishing  food ;  and 
a  child  of  God  cannot  grow  in  grace,  unless 
he  lives  upon  the  food  which  God  has  pro- 
vided. Read,  therefore,  a  portion  of  the 
Scriptures  every  morning,  before  going  out 
into  the  bustle  of  the  world.  Our  Lord's 
prayer  was,  "  Sanctify  them  through  thy 
truth;  thy  word  is  truth."  If,  then,  you 
are  to  be  sanctified  in  soul,  it  must  be 
through  the  truths  of  the  word  of  God; 
and,  therefore,  let  your  mind  be  deeply  im- 


44  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

bued  with  them.  It  is  a  condition  of  your 
nature  that  you  will  grow  in  something, 
and  if  not  in  good  it  will  be  in  evil.  There 
can  be  no  standing  still  with  an  immortal 
soul.  The  soul  craves  for  food,  and  if  it  is 
not  fed  and  nourished  by  the  pure  words  of 
God,  it  will  betake  itself  to  vile  and  worldly 
husks. 

My  dear  reader,  resolve  to  press  forward 
to  higher  attainments  in  the  Divine  life. 
Be  not  contented  with  a  low  standard  of 
piety — with  merely  being  safe.  Your  ex- 
ample is  a  very  high  one,  the  Lord  Jesus. 
Keep  your  eye  fixed  upon  him,  till  you  are 
transformed  into  his  image.  An  eloquent 
writer  says :  "  The  growth  in  grace  is  the 
only  one  not  subject  to  decay  and  death.  It 
has  a  vast  assimilative  power  which  nothing 
can  resist.  It  feeds,  therefore,  on  all  the 
elements  of  man's  life,  on  all  the  chequered 
experiences  of  his  days.  It  feeds  on  joy ; 
it  feeds  on  sorrow.  It  rises  by  nature's 
growths,  but  does  not  sink  in  nature's 
decays.  The  outward  man  may  perish, 
but  the  inward  man  is  renewed  day  by  day. 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WATS.  45 

Days  of  sorest  sickness  fill  the  springs  of 
immortal  health ;  and  the  day  of  death  in 
the  vocabulary  of  grace  is  but  the  earthly 
name  for  the  first  day  of  eternal  life.  Grow, 
then,  in  that  which  must  forever  grow — in 
that  which  will  always  be  grace,  although 
it  will  soon  be  glory,  and  always  fresh  and 
living  as  the  beauty  of  the  Saviour,  or  as 
the  thoughts  and  affections  of  God." 

"  My  hopes  are  passing  upward,  onward, 
And  with  my  hopes  my  heart  has  gone, 
My  eye  is  turning  skyward,  sunward. 
Where  glory  brightens  round  yon  throne." 


IV.    ■ 

EVIDENCES    OF    SPIRITUAL 
fiROWTH. 


}T  MAY  be  profitable  to  point  out  a 
few  of  the  evidences  of  growth  in  the 
If  Divine  life. 

'^''  One  of  the  most  prominent  is  entire 
submission  to  the  will  of  God.  All  sin  is 
founded  on  opposition  to  "  the  good,  and 
perfect,  and  holy  will  of  God,"  and  all  holi- 
ness is  founded  on  a  sinking  of  our  own 
will  into  his.  To  accomplish  the  work  of 
spritual  growth  in  the  soul,  God  often  uses 
the  rod  of  affliction,  as  well  as  the  privi- 
leges of  his  grace  ;  and  just  as  the  chilling 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  47 

winds  of  autumn  help  to  ripen  the  corn,  as 
well  as  the  warm  sun  of  the  summer ;  so  it 
is  a  rare  thing  to  meet  a  highly  spiritual 
Christian  who  has  not  been  taught  in  the 
school  of  affliction.  There  are  some  plants 
that  only  emit  their  sweetest  odors  when 
pressed,  and  many  a  saint,  in  his  increased 
ripeness  of  character,  is  heard  exclaiming, 
"  It  is  good  forme  that  I  have  been  afflicted." 
It  is  a  decided  mark  of  grace  advancing 
in  the  soul,  therefore,  when,  amid  the  pres- 
sure of  outward  trials,  we  can  obey  the 
Divine  command,  "Be  still,  and  know  that 
I  am  God."  What  an  exceedingly  interest- 
ing and  touching  illustration  of  this  spirit 
is  found  in  the  case  of  the  Shunamite 
woman.  Her  home,  lately  made  so  happy 
by  the  presence  of  one  of  God's  choicest 
gifts,  a  lovely  child,  is  now  darkened  with 
a  terrible  sorrow ;  for  the  loved  one  has 
been  suddenly  taken  aw^ay  by  death.  She 
and  her  husband  had  lived  long  together 
before  their  home  echoed  the  voice  of  child- 
hood's happy  prattle;  and  now,  as  their 
affections  begin  to  cling  around  the  dear 


48  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR 


boy  Math  unspeakable  love,  his  young  life 
fades  away.  Proudly  and  joyfully  had  they 
but  lately  gazed  upon  his  intelligent  face, 
and  thought  what  a  comfort  and  prop  he 
would  be  to  their  declining  years.  But, 
alas !  with  many  a  fond  parent  they  are 
now  compelled  to  say  through  their  tears : 

"  One  little  bud  adorned  my  bower, 
And  shed  sweet  fragrance  round, 
It  grew  in  beauty  hour  by  hour, 
Till,  ah!  the  spoiler  came  in  power 
And  crushed  it  to  the  ground." 

Apparently  in  his  usual  health,  the  dear 
boy  left  his  fond  mother  in  the  morning,  to 
mingle  with  the  reapers  in  his  father's 
fields,  and  by  noon  of  the  same  day,  that 
mother  looks  in  the  bitterness  of  her  an- 
guish upon  his  pale  face,  on  which  death 
has  just  stamped  his  seal.  How  does  she 
deport  herself  under  this  crushing  trial?' 
Does  she  give  way  to  that  wild  and  clam- 
orous grief  that  murmurs  against  God  and 
andhisM'ays?  No,  she  hastens  to  Mount 
Carmel  to  tell  her  sorrow  to  the  man  of 
God,  and  when  he  asks  her,  "  Is  it  well 


BEGIKNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  49 

with  the   child  ?"    She  answered,    "  It  is 

WELL." 

What  a  lovely  state  of  mind  !  Sweetly 
meek  and  submissive,  under  one  of  the 
most  crushing  sorrows  that  a  fond  mother 
can  be  called  to  bear,  she  looks  up  through 
her  tears  into  the  face  of  her  Heavenly 
Father,  and  says,  "  It  is  well."  She  dreads 
to  return  to  her  home,  for  its  chief  joy  has 
gone  out  in  darkness,  but  it  is  well.  That 
bright  eye  which  always  met  the  kindred 
glance  of  her  own  love,  is  closed  in  death, 
but  it  is  well.  Silent  now  is  the  tongue 
that  spoke  to  her  such  loving  words,  and 
cold  now  are  the  lips  that  kissed  her  so 
fondly,  but  it  is  well.  O,  woman,  great  is 
thy  faith  !  From  thy  bright  example  may 
we  learn  to  trust  God  where  we  cannot  see 
him,  and  to  say  in  the  ]3auses  of  the  wildest 
storms  that  beat  upon  us,  "  It  is  well.'*'' 

We  live  in  the  dispensation  of  suffering, 
the  dispensation  of  the  cross.  The  Captain 
of  our  Salvation  was  made  perfect  through 
suffering.  If  a  crown  of  glory  ever  encir- 
cles our  brows,  if  "our  feet  ever  tread  the 
7 


60  YOUNG  GONVEKTS  ;    OR, 

golden  streets  of  heaven,  it  will  be  tlirougli 
the  sufFerino;s  of  our  Lord.  That  is  a 
•wonderful  passage,  "Yet  learned  He  obedi- 
ence by  the  things  which  he  suffered." 
And  he  ffave  the  world  a  wonderful 
evidence  of  how  well,  as  a  Son,  he  learned 
obedience  to  his  Father's  will,  when  in  the 
terrible  hour  of  his  agony  he  said,  "  Not 
my  will,  but  thine  be  done."  And  when 
he  would  teach  his  people  the  lesson  of  a 
quiet  and  holy  submission,  he  puts  them 
through  fiery  trials.  "I  have  chosen  thee 
in  the  furnace  of  affliction." 

When  death  often  visits  our  homes,  and 
funeral  after  funeral  leaves  our  door  ;  when 
our  business  prosperity  is  blighted,  and 
our  highest  worldly  hopes  tumble  about 
our  ears  a  pile  of  ruins ;  when  health  fails, 
and  painful  days  and  nights  are  appointed 
us ;  when  separated  from  beloved  friends, 
and  the  holy  activities  which  we  enjoy  in 
their  society,  we  are  left,  for  months  or 
years,  to  the  solitude  of  our  sick  room ; 
when  friend  after  friend  leaves  us,  till  we 
stand  amid  the  storms  of  life  like  a  tree 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WAYS.  51 

that  the  winds  of  heaven  have  stripped  of 
every  branch  ;  then  is  the  time  to  practice 
the  lessons  of  resio-nation  which  we  have 
been  taught  in  the  school  of  Christ.  Happy 
is  the  man  who,  in  such  circumstances,  can 
say,  "  Thou  hast  dealt  well  with  thy  ser- 
vant, 0  Lord,  according  to  thy  word." 

It  will  greatly  aid  us  in  cultivating  a 
submissive  spirit,  if  we  learn  to  see  God  in 
everything.  It  has  been  said  that  there 
are  two  things  that  we  should  never  mur- 
mur about — things  that  we  can  help^  and 
things  that  we  cannot  help — and  that  would 
about  use  up  all  the  murmuring  in  the 
world.  But,  certainly,  no  true  Christian 
will  murmur  when  he  clearly  sees  God's 
hand  in  his  trials.  "  I  was  dumb,  I  opened 
not  my  mouth,  because  thou  didst  it."  An 
old  writer  says,  "  The  strokes  of  his  hand 
are  love,  as  well  as  the  kisses  of  his  mouth." 
But  let  the  mind  get  into  the  habit  of  look- 
ing away  from  God  to  mere  second  catcses, 
then  may  we  bid  adieu  to  all  profit  from 
our  affliction,  as  well  as  all  consolation  to 
support  us  under  it. 


52  YOUNG  CONVEKTS  ;    OR, 

In  such  cases  the  soul,  instead  of  resting 
upon  the  unshaken  Rock  of  God's  Word, 
seeks  to  comfort  itself  with  a  bundle  of 
foolish  "  ifs."  If  it  had  not  been  for  that 
treacherous  friend,  I  would  not  have  lost 
my  property.  If  I  had  called  another 
physician,  my  child  might  not  have  died. 
If  I  had  gone  to  such  a  place  I  might 
have  been  in  better  circumstances.  Ah  ! 
poor  soul,  God  is  above  and  beyond  all 
your  ifs.  All  second  causes  are  but  the 
agents  of  the  great  First  Cause,  which  he 
either  sends  or  permits,  to  work  out  his 
holy  designs.  O,  what  a  calm  joy  it  gives 
.to  confide  in  Him  who  sits- at  the  helm  of 
affairs ! 

It  is  true  that  God's  dealings  with  us 
are  often  mysterious.  His  providences  are 
a  chain  of  shining  and  perfect  links,  but 
the  links  are  often  hid  from  our  view. 
And  this  is  well — it  is  part  of  our  probation. 
We  are  to  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight ;  and 
the  more  we  are  encompassed  by  clouds 
of  perplexity,  the  better  opportunity  we 
have   to  confide   in   God's  Word,   and  to 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  53 

rejoice  that  he  reigneth.  Jesus  has  not 
promised  to  explain  all  his  dealings  with 
us  as  we  go  along,  but  he  has  promised 
never  to  leave  nor  forsake  us ;  and  amid 
our  greatest  perplexities  he  gives  us  the 
assurance,  "  What  I  do,  thou  knowest  not 
now,  but  thou  shalt  know  hereafter." 

O,  glorious  hereafter !  when  we  shall 
know  as  we  are  known,  and  see  as  we  are 
seen  ;  when  we  shall  have  done  with  sin, 
and  look  into  the  grave  of  all  our  troubles  ; 
when  we  shall  cast  our  eyes  back  over  the 
way  by  which  His  hand  led  us ;  and  see 
that  it  was  neither  too  rough  nor  too  long ; 
and  where  we  shall  sing  forever,  "  He  has 
done  all  things  well." 

Another  evidence  of  growth  in  grace  is 
a  truly  grateful,  thankful  spirit.  A  gen- 
tleman was  met  by  another  who  asked 
him,  "Did  you  ever  thank  God  for  your 
reason  ?"  "  No,  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever 
did,"  was  the  astonished  reply.  "  Then  do 
it  now,  for  I  have  lost  mine,"  said  the 
other  as  he  hastened  on.  The  duty  of 
thankfulness   to  God  is  seen  in  the  fact 


54:  YOUNG  OONVEKTS  :    OK 


that  we  possess  many  blessings,  and  have 
deserved  none.  As  sinners,  we  cannot 
point  to  a  single  gift  that  God  was  under 
any  obligation  to  bestow  upon  us,  or  to 
continue.  Nor  can  we  point  to  anything 
that  we  have  deserved  at  his  hand.  All 
that  makes  life  desirable  is  the  undeserved 
gift  of  his  goodness.  That  goodness  en- 
velopes us  like  a  garment.  The  earth 
upon  which  we  tread  is  covered  with  it. 
If  we  look  up  into  the  heavens,  it  floats 
in  every  cloud,  and  flashes  upon  us  from 
every  s-tar.  It  is  new  every  morning  and 
fresh  every  evening.  The  thankful  heart 
exclaims  with  David,  "  How  great  is  thy 
goodness." 

A  grumbling,  fretful,  discontented  man, 
is  a  walking  pestilence.  With  a  chronic 
frown  upon  his  brow,  and  unhappy  words 
welling  out  from  his  unhappy  heart,  he 
infects  others  with  his  miserable  spirit.  To 
come  in  contact  with  him  is  worse  than 
going  out  into  a  cold  damp  fog,  or  a  pelting 
hail-storm.  If  the  weather  is  delightful, 
instead  of  enjoying  it,  he  will  tell  you  of 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WAYS.  55 

the  awful  weather  we  are  going  to  have. 
If  his  children  are  all  healthy,  instead  of 
thanking  God  for  it,  he  is  thinking  of  the 
long  lists  of  diseases  they  have  yet  to  go 
through  ;  and  his  gloomy  imagination  is 
filled  with  coffins  and  graves.  If  his  present 
wants  are  suj^plied,  instead  of  enjoying 
thankfully  the  goodness  of  God,  he  is 
thinking  of  untold  privations  in  the  future. 
He  is  constantly  engaged  in  tlje  unprofit- 
able business  of  crossino-  bridcres  before  he 
comes  to  them.  Blind  to  his  present  bless- 
ings, he  sees  only  ills  that  may  never 
come. 

How  much  better  the  spirit  of  the  old 
sailor,  who,  when  he  fell  from  the  rigging 
of  his  ship  and  broke  his  leg,  remarked 
that  he  was  very  thankful  to  God  that  it 
was  not  his  neck.  I  have  heard  of  a  man 
who  was  remarkable  for  a  happy,  cheerful, 
thankful  spirit.  He  said  that  he  never 
felt  disposed  to  murmur  but  once,  and 
that  was  on  a  cold  morning,  when  the 
ground  was  covered  with  snow,  and  he 
was  under  the  necessity  of  going  out  almost 


56  YOUNG  CONVERTS ;    OK, 

bare-footed.  But  he  said  that  he  had  not 
gone  far  till  he  met  a  man  who  had  no  feet 
at  all,  and  he  thought  that  the  time  had 
not  come  for  him  to  complain. 

To  count  the  many  mercies  bestowed 
upon  us,  instead  of  dwelling  upon  those' 
withheld,  or  withdrawn,  is  the  true  way  to 
cultivate  a  thankful  heart.  True  thank- 
fulness has  nothing  about  it  of  stoical 
indiiference  to  the  trials  of  life.  It  is 
not  like  the  rock  that  receives  sunshine, 
shower,  and  storm,  with  the  same  immor- 
able  indifference.  The  Christian  may  feel 
acutely  his  trials  and  privations,  and  yet 
cherish  a  gushing  gratitude  for  God's  many 
mercies  continued  to  him.  Job  said,  "  Shall 
we  receive  good  at  the  hand  of  the  Lord, 
and  shall  we  not  also  receive  evil?"  And 
he  closed  the  catalogue  of  his  trials  with 
a  burst  of  thankfulness,  "  Blessed  be  the 
name  of  the  Lord  !" 

What  a  cheerful,  contented,  thankful 
spirit  did  the  Apostle  Paul  possess !  Amid 
all  his  trials  he  could  say,  ''I  have  learned 
in  whatsoever  state  I  am,  therewith  to  be 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WAYS.  57 

content."  Ilis  trust  was  in  God,  and  the 
largest  wave  that  rolled  across  the  ocean  of 
life  could  not  drive  him  from  his  anchorage 
on  the  Divine  promises.  In  the  darkest 
night  of  trouble,  his  hope  in  Christ  shone 
bright,  and  he  could  look  up  with  a 
bounding  heart,  and  "  thank  God  for  his  • 
unspeakable  gift." 

The  sweet  Psalmist  of  Israel  was  a 
most  grateful  and  thankful  man.  Prosper- 
ity lifted  him  up  to  exalted  heights,  and 
adversity  sunk  him  down  to  great  depths ; 
but  in  every  situation  his  songs  of  praise 
rolled  forth  from  his  loving  heart ;  and  he 
has  left  behind  him  a  record  of  joyous 
praise,  the  most  sublime,  graphic,  and 
beautiful,  ever  bequeathed  to  the  Church 
of  God.  He  often  cried  to  God  from  the 
very  depths,  but  when  God  heard  him,  he 
was  always  seen  coming  back  with  his  hearty 
song  of  praise.  liis  cry  for  help  under  the 
pressure  of  trouble  was  loud,  but  his  voice  of 
praise  was  equally  so.  Alas  !  how  many  are 
the  reverse  of  this.  They  are  loud  and 
claraorcus  for  the  supply  of  their  wants, 
8 


58  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

but  utterly  fail  to  come  with  adoring  grati- 
tude when  God  opens  to  them  his  hand. 

An  old  writer  says,  "  The  Lord  Jesus 
spreads  a  large  table  every  day,  and  the 
majority  who  feed  thereat  are  his  enemies," 
Thankfulness  to  God  is  not  natural  to  man. 
It  is  a  flower  that  does  not  grow  in  the 
cold  soil  of  an  unregenerated  heart.  It 
must  be  planted  and  the  soil  prepared  for  it, 
bv  the  Divine  hand.  It  has  been  beauti- 
fully  said  that  gratitude  is  the  memory  of 
the  heart;  and  the  heart  that  has  been 
taken  to  Calvary,  and  washed  in  the  blood 
that  ransomed  a  world,  will  have  a  strong 
memory  of  the  blessing  given,  and  a  ready 
tongue  to  utter  God's  praise.  Those  who 
are  not  thankful  for  God's  unspeakable 
gift,  cannot  be  expected  to  be  really  thank- 
ful for  any  other  gift.  If  they  will  not 
praise  the  Great  Giver  for  the  greatest 
gift,  they  are  not  likely  to  praise  him  for 
any  of  the  smaller. 

Besides,  the  heart  that  has  learned  true 
thankfulness  at  Calvary,  will  be  prepared 
for  the  praise  of  heaven.     There  they  sing 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WATS.  59 

the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb ;  that  is, 
thej  sing  of  God's  redeeming  love,  and  of 
his  providential  interferences  on  their  be- 
half. From  sinless  lips,  that  great,  faultless 
congregation  shall  fill  eternity  with  their 
praise. 

' '  Most  that  we  know  of  heaven  above, 
Is  that  they  praise,  and  that  they  love." 

Another  evidence  of  growth  in  grace, 
is  a  stronger  faith  in  the  promise  of  God. 
A  good  man  who  had  been  very  rich  at 
one  time,  and  then  had  been  reduced  to 
poverty',  was  observed  to  be  happy  in  both 
conditions.  lie  explained  this  by  saying, 
"When  I  had  all  of  the  world  that  heart 
could  wish,  I  enjoyed  God  in  everything; 
and  when  I  had  nothing,  I  enjoyed  every- 
thing in  God."  He  had  found  out  the 
meaning  of  that  passage,  "Ye  are  poor, 
but  ye  are  rich."  Trusting  in  the  sweet 
promises  of  God,  he  had  a  never-failing 
bank  to  which  he  could  go  for  the  supply 
of  all  his  wants. 

That  was  an  exceedingly  precious  prom- 
ise that  Paul  addressed  to  the  Philippian 


60  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR 


Christians,  "  My  God  shall  supply  all  your 
need  according  to  his  riches  in  glory  by 
Jesus  Christ,"  How  very  delightful  that 
expression  sounds,  "  My  God !"  What, 
although  he  was  at  that  moment  a  prisoner 
for  the  truth,  solitary  and  alone;  what, 
although  he  had  suffered  buifetting,  and 
reproach,  and  the  most  cruel  persecutions ; 
what,  althoogh  he  knew  that  in  the  future 
bonds  and  imprisonment  and  a  violent 
death  awaited  him ;  yet,  as  long  as  he 
could  look  up  to  the  God  of  the  universe, 
that  God  who  tunes  the  thfmder's  roar  and 
and  softens  the  rage  of  the  lightning's 
flash,  and  call  him,  "  My  God,"  he  was 
indeed  a  happy  man.  Men  might  imprison 
him  in  loathsome  dungeons,  and  scourge 
him  till  his  blood  crimsoned  his  prison 
floor ;  they  might  crush  his  limbs  with 
torture,  and  his  name  with  bitter  reproach, 
but  he  need  not  care  so  long  as  his  strength- 
ening faith  enabled  him  to  say,  "  The  Lord 
stood  by  me  and  comforted  me." 

When   the   bird   in   the   tree   sees   any 
danger  beneath,  it  flies  up   to   a  higher 


BEGINNEES  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  61 

branch ;  if  the  clanger  gets  still  greater, 
it  still  mounts  higher;  and  if  very  great, 
it  flies  off  heavenward.  So  let  all  our 
trials  and  troubles  drive  us  nearer  to  God, 
nearer  to  our  heavenly  home,  so  that  we 
can  take  a  firmer  hold  of  the  holy  promises. 

The  promises  do  not  assure  us  of  the 
supply  of  all '  our  desires^  but  of  all  our 
needs.  Our  desires  are  often  wrong,  and 
such  that  if  God  were  to  satisfy  them  it 
would  be  the  heaviest  calamity  that  could 
happen  to  us.  As  the  child  often  cries  for 
things  which  a  wise  and  loving  parent  finds 
it  necessary  to  deny  it,  so  it  is  with  our 
Heavenly  Father.  The  child  may  want 
sweetmeats  when  it  needs  medicine,  and 
cry  for  a  knife  or  razor,  attracted  by  its 
bright  glitter,  but  the  parent  supplies  only 
those  things  that  will  be  for  its  good. 
There  are  many  things  in  our  catalogue 
that  will  not  be  found  in  God's,  but  faith 
has  unshaken  confidence  in  his  wisdom 
and  love. 

The  promises  of  God  are  for  the  supply 
of  all  our  need.     All  that  the  soul  can 


62  YOUNG  CONVERTS  *,    OK, 

require  to  support  it  in  trial ;  to  strengthen 
it  in  temptation  ;  to  fit  it  for  duty ;  to  give 
it  the  victory  over  besetting  sins ;  to  cheer 
in  seasons  of  gloom ;  to  guard  in  times  of 
prosperity; — in  short,  all  that  the  soul 
with  its  vast  capacity  for  eternal  good  can 
need,  is  pledged  to  it.  Oh !  what  a  prayer 
was  that  which  the  Apostle  presented  for 
his  hearers,  "  That  ye  may  be  filled  with 
the  fullness  of  God!"  Ah!  surely,  the 
soul  thus  filled  cannot  have  any  real  need 
unsatisfied, 

"We  might  enumerate  many  other  evi- 
dences of  spiritual  growth,  such  as  acting 
more  and  more  from  principle,  possessing 
a  deeper  humility,  and  more  of  the  spirit 
of  prayer;  but  the  above  must  sufiice  for 
the  present.  Let  us  seek  to  be  Christians 
©f  high  attainments  in  the  divine  life.  Do 
not  be  contented  with  a  poor,  low,  sickly, 
dwarfish  piety,  that  is  always  struggling 
for  life,  and  almost  ready  to  die ;  but  seek 
to  have  a  strong,  vigorous  faith,  that  de- 
lights in  doing  hard  work  for  Jesus,  and 


BEGINNEKS  IN  ZTON's  WATS.  63 

enduring  hardships   in   his   service,   as   a 
good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"Moralist  1  afloat  on  life's  rough  sea, 
The  Christian  has  an  art  unknown  to  thee  ; 
He  holds  no  parley  with  unmanly  fears  ; 
Where  duty  bids  he  oonfidently  steers, 
Faces  a  thousand  dangers  at  her  call, 
And,  trusting  in  his  God,  surmounts  them  all," 


V. 


DUTIES  IN  THE  CHURCH, 


EAS  reader,  I  take  it  for  granted  that 
YOU  are  now  a  member  of  Christ's 
Cliurch,  and  that  it  has  been  your 
happy  privilege  to  sit  down,  for  the 
first  time,  at  the  table  of  the  Lord.  His 
first  communion  season  is  a  time  never  to 
be  forgotten  by  the  Christian.  Not  that 
he  is  to  attach  any  saving  efficacy  or  super- 
stitious importance  to  that  ordinance  above 
others,  but  because,  from  its  very  nature, 
it  brings  his  blessed  Saviour  directly  before 
him,  saying,  "  Do  this  in  remembrance 
of  me."     It  was  instituted  by  the  Lord's 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  65 

direct  command,  and  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  commemorating  his  dying  love, 
and  is  to  be  promptly  and  faithfully  ob- 
served till  he  comes  in  his  glory. 

It  is  sometimes  the  case  that  Christians 
stay  away  from  the  communion,  because 
their  feelings  are  not  as  lively  as  they 
could  wish,  or  because  there  is  some  dark- 
ness upon  their  minds.  I  hope  you  will 
never  be  guilty  of  this  great  sin  ;  for  such 
it  undoubtedly  is.  It  is  making  our  own 
feelings  the  rule  of  duty,  instead  of  the 
positive  command  of  Christ.  It  is  setting 
our  own  notions  up  as  the  standard  of  what 
we  should  do,  and  what  we  should  not  do, 
instead  of  the  positive  and  express  will  of 
the  Great  Head  of  the  Church,  The  same 
rule,  carried  out,  would  lead  us  to  neglect 
prayer,  the  reading  of  the  Bible,  attendance 
upon  the  means  of  grace,  and  in  short, 
everything  that  we  did  not  feel  like  doing 

at  the  time.  Why  should  Christians  stay 
away  from  the  very  means  which  Christ 
has  instituted  for  their  spiritual  profit, 
because  they  can  discover  many  imperfec- 
9 


QQ  TOTJNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

tions  about  themselves  ?  It  is  as  absurd 
as  staying  away  from  the  fire  because  you 
are  cold,  or  from  the  table  because  you  are 
hungry,  or  refusing  to  take  medicine  be- 
cause you  are  sick.  In  the  keeping  of 
God's  commands  there  is  great  reward, 
and  in  waiting  upon  God,  in  the  means  of 
his  appointment,  the  obedient  soul  renews 
its  strength. 

There  are  others  who  stay  away  from 
the  Communion  because  they  are  oft'ended 
with  some  of  their  brethren,  or  see  in  them 
some  wrong.  When  you  turn  your  back 
upon  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  refuse  to  com- 
memorate what  your  Saviour  did  for  you 
on  Calvary,  you  should  remember  that  one 
of  these  days  he  is  going  to  ask  your 
reasons  for  so  doino-.  And  he  will  not  be 
satisfied  with  excuses,  but  must  have  red- 
sons.  Will  it  be  a  reason  to  say  that  yr>u 
did  wrong,  because  somebody  else  did 
wrong-;  that  you  deliberately  concluded 
that  you  would  neglect  one  plain  duty, 
because  some  one  else  neglected  another 
duty?      If   tliat    brother  has   done   some 


BEtJlNNEKS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  67 

great  evil  in  the  sight  of  God,  will  it  mend 
the  matter  for  you  to  do  another  wrong  by 
despising  Christ's  ordinances  ?  You  say 
that  a  certain  brother  has  offended  yon, 
and  that  you  will  not  come  to  the  Com- 
munion while  he  is  there.  Has  Christ 
offended  you  also  ?  If  not,  why  do  you 
seek  to  revenge  the  wrong  done  upon  your 
Lord  and  his  ordinance  ?  He  bids  you 
come  to  his  table  in  remembrance  of  him, 
and  you  reply,  "Lord,  I  will  not  remem- 
ber thee,  because  this  brother  has  done 
wrong."  Such  conduct  is  wicked  aad 
unreasonable.  It  is  sometimes  the  result 
of  ignorance,  but  for  the  most  part  is  the 
indulgence  of  bad  temper,  under  the  plea 
of  conscientious  motives.  It  is  like  Jonah, 
who  professed  to  be  angry  on  princijJ'Jey 
and  had  the  impudence  to  tell  God  to  his 
face,  "  I  do  well  to  be  angry." 

In  vindication  of  such  conduct  the  pas- 
sage is  often  quoted,  "  Therefore  if  thou 
bring  thy  gift  to  tke  altar,  and  there  re- 
iremberest  that  thy  brother  hath  aught 
against  thee,    leave  there  thy  gift    before 


68  YOUNG  CONVERTS ;    OK, 

the  altar,  and  go  thy  way ;  first  be  recon- 
ciled to  thy  brother,  and  then  come  and 
ofler  tliy  gift."  This  has  no  reference  to 
the  Lord's  Supper,  and  if  it  had,  it  would 
be  no  excuse  for  the  conduct  we  have  been 
condemning.  It  says,  "If  thou  remem- 
berest  that  thy  brother  hath  aught  against 
thee^^  but  such  persons  act  as  if  it  read, 
"  If  thou  rememberest  that  thou  hast  aught 
against  thy  brother."  Even  if  this  applied 
to  the  Communion,  it  would  be  a  brother 
having  something  against  you^  and  not 
your  having  something  against  a  hroiher^ 
that  would  be  a  cause  of  staying  away. 
My  dear  reader,  when  Christ  spreads  his 
table,  it  is  your  duty  to  be  there,  whoever 
is  there.  Of  course  you  are  to  use  your 
influence  for  the  purity  of  the  church,  and 
the  Master  has  laid  down  the  proper  way 
in  which  this  is  to  be  done ;  but  forsaking 
the  Communion  is  not  that  way. 

And  now  that  you  ai?e  a  member  of  the 
church,  let  me  earnestly  exhort  you  to  be 
punctual  in  your  attendance  on  all  her 
appointments.     There  are  some  who  make 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WAYS.  69 

a  small  thino:  an  excuse  for  absentin<>:  them- 
selves  from  the  house  of  God  upon  the 
Sabbath.  Out  about  their  business  on 
Saturday'  and  on  Monday,  whatever  may  be 
the  weather,  they  will  stay  at  home  on  Sab- 
bath, and  urge  excuses  that  they  ought  to  be 
ashamed  to  present  to  their  fellow-men,  and 
that  they  will  be  ashamed  to  present  to  the 
Great  Judge.  If  a  man  has  an  important 
note  to  meet  at  the  bank,  he  will  not  neglect 
it  because  the  weather  is  a  little  too  cold  or 
too  hot,  or  because  the  clouds  threaten  rain. 
No,  he  will  go  forth  with  energy  and  attend 
to  his  business.  And  yet  the  same  man  will 
make  these  things  an  excuse  for  not  going 
to  the  house  of  God,  and  paying  his  vows 
to  the  Most  High.  I  have  known  a  lady 
excuse  herself  from  going  out  more  than 
once  on  the  Sabbath,  on  the  plea  that  she 
could  not  go  out  evenings,  and  yet  be  out 
to  parties,  or  concerts,  or  lectures,  two  or 
three  evenings  in  the  week.  Do  such  peo- 
ple think  that  God  is  going  to  be  mocked 
in  this  way  ? 

Listen  to  the  language  of  one  who  had 


TO  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

erred  in  this  way,  but  repented  :  "  A  Sab- 
bath at  home,  how  unlike  one  spent  in  the 
courts  of  the  Lord  !  I  become  restless — 
feel'  that  something  is  wanting — my  mind 
wanders  —  weariness  pervades  the  body, 
and  I  am  tempted  to  seek  relief  in  sleep. 
I  am  unsnally  troubled  with  worldly 
thoughts,  and  tind  a  strong  temptation  to 
read  something  not  appropriate  to  the  day, 
to  engage  in  worldly  conversation,  to  repair 
to  my  store,  or  to  visit  my  neighbor.  A 
Sabbath  at  home  is  to  me  a  Sabbath  lost. 
I  tried  it  once,  and  dread  its  influence. 
But  I  have  learned  something.  Other  men 
are  like  myself.  Now  I  see  why  some  of 
my  fellow-Christians  have  so  little  religious 
enjoyment,  knowledge  and  influence.  They 
are  frequently  absent  from  the  house  of 
God.  Who  can  afford  to  lose  a  single  Sab- 
bath ?  And  yet  how  many^  many  such 
])recious  days  are  lost,  and  worse  than  lost, 
in  this  land  of  Sabbaths." 

My  dear  reader,  make  a  right  beginning 
in  this  respect.  Be  punctual  in  your  place 
at  the  house  of  God  on  the  Sabbath,  and 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  Yl 

at  the  prayer-meeting  during  the  week. 
Every  pastor  has  members  of  his  flock  that 
lie  can  calcuhite  with  certainty  upon  seeing 
in  their  phices  regularly.  He  can  depend 
upon  them.  They  make  their  arrangements 
with  a  view  to  the  appointments  of  the 
church,  and  make  everything  else  bend 
before  the  calls  of  duty.  If,  on  the  evening 
of  the  prayer-meeting,  visitors  call,  they 
will  ask  them  to  go  with  them,  or  beg  to 
be  excused  for  an  hour,  so  that  the  precious 
opportunity  may  not  be  lost.  There  are 
others  whose  attendance  is  fitful  and  uncer- 
tain. They  permit  every  ti'ifle  to  act  as  a 
hindrance  in  their  way.  If  some  notable 
lecturer  is  to  speak,  or  some  popular  singer 
is  to  appear,  or  a  political  meeting  is  to  be 
held,  they  are  off  in  full  pursuit  of  the 
novelty,  while  the  prayer-meeting  is  left  to 
get  on  as  it  may.  If  the  pastor  acted  in 
this  way,  they  would  be  the  first  to  com- 
plain. But  is  there  one  Bible  for  the  pas- 
tor and  another  for  the  member  ?  If  it  is 
the  pastor's  duty  to  preach,  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  members  to  be  there  to  hear  him ; 


T2  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR 

and  if  he  is  to  lead  the  prayer-ineeting,  it 
is  the  duty  of  every  member  to  be  there  to 
sustain  it.  The^same  precious  blood  ^vas 
shed  for  both,  and  they  are  both  laid  under 
the  same  law  of  love. 

Such  persons  little  know  how  much  they 
lose  by  their  neglect  of  the  means  of  grace. 
An  old  Christian  ladv  was  noticed  to  be 
very  regular  in  her  attendance  at  church, 
and  that  she  was  always  thei-e  before  the 
service  began.  She  said  that  the  Lord  had 
promised  to  be  there  and  meet  with  her, 
but  that  he  bad  not  said  in  what  part  of  the 
service  he  would  come — in  the  first  hymn, 
or  in  the  first  prayer,  in  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptures,  or  in  the  sermon  ;  and,  there- 
fore, she  resolved  to  be  present  the  whole 
time,  that  she  might  not  lose  the  blessing. 
She  also  remarked  that  she  did  not  like  to 
come  late  to  the  house  of  God,  for  it  was  a 
part  of  her  religion  not  to  disturb  the  reli- 
gion of  other  people.  What  a  blessing 
Thomas  lost  by  not  being  present  with  the 
other  disciples,  in  the  upper  room,  when 
our  Lord  appeared  to  them,  after  his  resur- 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZiON''s  WAYS.  73 


rection,  and  suid,  "  Peace  be  unto  you." 
Of  course,  \Ye  do  not  know  the  reason  wliy 
he  was  not  tliere,  but  as  he  was  evidently 
in  a  dark,  unbelieving  state  of  mind,  it  is 
likely  he  could  have  been  there  had  he 
wislied.  He  lost  a  most  precious  blessing 
to  his  soul  by  his  neglect,  and  when  the 
brethren  next  met  him,  and  began  to  tell 
liim,  in  glowing  terms,  what  a  good  meet- 
ing they  had,  and  how  the  Lord  had 
appeared  to  them,  he  cut  them  short  by 
refusing  to  believe  a  word  that  they  uttered, 
and  sullenly  said,  "Except  I  shall  see  in 
his  hands  the  print  of  the  nails,  and  put 
my  linger  into  the  print  of  the  nails,  and 
thrust  mv  hand  into  his  side,  I  will  not 
believe." 

Another  thing  that  I  would  urge  upon 
the  young  convert  is,  to  cultivate  a  spirit 
of  love  toward  every  member  of  the  church. 
This  is  a  mark  of  true  discipleship.  "  We 
know  that  we  have  passed  from  death  unto 
life,  because  vcq  love  the  brethren."  "  By 
this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  dis- 
ciples, if  ye  love  one  another."  Be  it  yours 
10 


74  YOUA'G  CONVEKTS  ',    OR, 

to  promote  the  spirit  of  love,  by  the  display 
of  a  loving  and  an  aftectionate  disposition. 
I  would  not  be  the  man  to  disturb  the  har- 
mony of  a  church  of  Christ,  for  the  globe 
upon  which  I  stand.  Wo  to  the  man  by 
whom  such  offences  come  !  There  are  per- 
sons who  are  very  sensitive  and  suspicious, 
and  are  constantly  taking  offence  at  their 
brethren  where  no  offence  was  intended. 
They  will  say  harsh  and  bitter  things,  but 
do  not  you  imitate  them,  nor  contend  with 
them.  It  takes  two  to  make  a  quarrel,  and 
b}'  showing  them  a  more  excellent  way, 
you  may  win  them  to  a  more  lovely 
spirit.  "  Ye  who  are  spiritual,  restore  such 
an  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness."  I  was 
much  struck  with  a  remark  made  by  the 
Duke  of  Wellino-ton  in  one  of  his  letters  : 
"  I  am  not  in  the  habit  of  deciding  upon 
such  matters  hastily  or  in  anger ;  and  the 
j)rcof  of  this  is,  that  I  never  had  a  quarrel 
with  any  man  in  my  life."  This  is  a 
remarkable  statement,  coming  from  one 
w^ho  had  passed  through  such  a  long  and 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION^S  WAYS.  75 

public  career,  and  who  had  been  brought 
in  contact  with  all  kinds  of  men, 

"  Learn,  0  my  soul,  what  God  demands 
Is  not  a  faith  Hke  barren  sands, 
But  fruit  of  heavenly  hue ; 
By  this  we  prove  that  Christ  we  know, 
If  in  his  holy  steps  we  pfo. 
Faith  works  by  love  if  true." 

If  Christian  faithfulness  requires  that  joii 
should  notice  oifences  committed  asainst 
the  laws  of  Christ,  by  a  member  of  the 
church,  be  sure  that  vou  go  to  work  accord- 
ing to  the  rules  laid  down  by  the  Lord,  in 
the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Matthew.  Do 
not  whisper  the  oifence  to  some  one  as  a 
great  secret^  who,  unable  to  keep  the  secret 
himself,  will  get  some  one  to  help  him,  and 
thus  the  matter  be  talked  about  all  over  the 
church,  before  you  have  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  the  ofiending  brother  himself.  I 
have  known  a  world  of  trouble  broug-ht 
upon  churches  by  such  blundering.  Go  to 
the  offender  at  once,  and  let  the  matter  be 
talked  of  between  him  and  you  alone.  And 
do  not  go  in  a  haughty,  magisterial,  super- 


76  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR. 

cilious  spirit,  else  you  will  be  sure  to  fail 
in  winning  your  brother.  Like  begets 
like ;  and  a  bitter,  haughty  spirit  on  your 
part,  will  beget  bitter,  haughty  retorts  on 
his.  Go  in  the  spirit  of  love  and  of  prayer, 
remembering  that  you  are  yourself  imper- 
fect and  liable  to  ftill. 

Should  you  not  succeed,  then  you  must 
take  another  brother  with  you,  and  let  him 
be  the  most  spiritual,  loving,  and  prayerful 
spirit  you  can  find  in  the  church.  If  you 
both  fail  in  bringing  the  offender  to  repent- 
ance, then  you  must  bring  the  matter  before 
the  church.  But  be  not  ready  to  take 
offence.  Do  not  constitute  vourself  a  kind 
of  detective  or  spy  in  the  church.  Preven- 
tion is  better  than  cure ;  and  let  it  be  yours 
to  keep  up  the  spirit  of  vital  religion,  so  as 
to  prevent  backsliding  in  your  own  heart, 
and  in  the  hearts  of  others. 

' '  Be  not  swift  to  take  oflfense  1 

Let  it  pass! 
Anger  is  a  foe  to  sense ; 

Let  it  pass! 
Brood  not  darkly  o'er  a  wrong 
Which  will  disappear  ere  long; 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  T7 

Rather  sing  this  cheery  song — 

Let  it  pass! 
Echo  not  an  angry  word; 

Let  it  pass! 
Think  how  often  you  have  erred ; 

Let  it  pass! 
Since  our  joys  must  pass  away, 
Like  the  dewdropa  on  the  spray, 
Wherefore  should  our  sorrows  stay  ? 

Let  them  pass !' ' 

Permit  me  to  enjoin  upon  you  another 
point,  before  closing  this  chapter  ;  and  that 
is,  to  make  it  a  matter  of  conscience  to  bear 
your  share  of  the  pecuniary  burdens  of  the 
church,  according  as  the  Lord  has  prospered 
you.  To  buikl  churches,  and  keep  them 
in  proper  repair  and  order  ;  to  pay  the  pas- 
tor's salary  punctually,  and  to  carry  on  the 
benevolent  enterprises  of  the  church,  costs 
something ;  and  every  member  is  under 
obligation  to  bear  his  full  proportion  of 
that  cost.  To  unite  with  any  organization, 
and  enjoy  the  full  advantages  of  it,  and  yet 
do  nothing  to  help  sustain  it,  would  be 
regarded  as  supremely  mean,  even  by 
worldly  men.     A  gentleman  being  told  of 


78  YOUNG  converts;  oe, 

a  certain  ricli  man,  that  he  was  converted, 
asked,  "  Is  his  purse  converted  ?"  And 
the  man  who  is  really  consecrated  to  Christ, 
will  be  willing  to  make  pecuniary  sacrifices 
to  promote  his  cause. 

What  you  do  for  the  support  of  the  cause 
of  truth,  let  it  be  done  spontaneously  and 
promptly.  Do  not  require  the  officers  of 
the  church  to  ask  and  urge  you  again  and 
again.  Do  not  require  them  to  waste  their 
time  in  finding  you.  These  brethren  do 
the  collecting  of  the  funds  for  carrying  on 
the  affairs  of  the  church  voluntarily,  and 
none  but  those  who  have  tried  it  can  tell 
what  a  laborious  work  it  is.  It  is  often 
made  more  so  than  it  need  be  by  the  care- 
lessness of  some  brethren.  I  have  known 
a  deacon  call  at  a  brother's  office  four  times 
to  collect  his  subscription  without  finding 
him  in,  and  yet  that  brother  passed  the 
deacon's  residence  every  day,  and  could 
have  saved  all  this  trouble  by  handing  in 
what  was  due.  When  the  collection  is 
taken  up  for  the  missionary  society,  and 
you  happen  to  be  absent  that  day,  do  not 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WAYS.  79 

let  the  cause  of  missions  suffer  from  that 
fact.  Act  from  principle,  and  give  as  in 
your  Master's  sight. 

Let  the  following  statement,  by  a  pastor, 
illustrate  this  point.  "  A  short  time  since, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  A.  presented  to  my  people 
the  claims  of  one  of  our  great  benevolent 
societies ;  and  on  Monday  I  called  with 
him  on  several  members  of  the  congrega- 
tion. Entering  the  counting-room  of  a 
merchant,  the  following  interview,  in  sub- 
stance occurred : 

Mr.  A. — "  Good  morning,  Mr.  B. ;  our 
openings  for  usefulness  are  multiplying, 
and  all  that  the  churches  will  intrust  to  us, 
we  can  most  profitably  employ  on  the  field 
of  our  labors." 

Mr.  B. — "  I  am  always  glad  to  see  you, 
Mr.  A.,  and  to  do  what  I  can  for  your  noble 
society,"  handing  him  a  liberal  donation  ; 
"  we  all  ought  to  feel  that  we  are  but 
stewards,  and  be  diligent  in  doing  good 
while  we  may." 

Mr.  A. — "  Thank  you,  thank  you,  Mr. 
B.     We  know  you  are  a  steadfast  friend, 


80  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OK 

and  so  is  your  partner,  Mr.  C.     Is  lie  in 
this  morning  ?" 

Mr.  B. — "  No,  Sir ;  he  is  in  Europe.  He 
was  unexpectedly  called  to  France  on  busi- 
ness, and  sailed  in  the  steamer  some  weeks 
since,  to  be  absent  about  six  months." 

Mr.  A. — "  Then,  1  suppose,  we  shall  lose 
his  subscription  this  year?" 

Mr.  B. — ''  No,  Sir ;  one  of  the  last  things 
he  did  bef<n'e  sailing  was,  to  request  me  to 
attend  to  his  charities  with  the  same  care 
as  to  his  other  business,  and  to  give  for  him 
to  the  various  objects  of  benevolence,  as 
they  might  come  before  our  church,  about 
the  same  that  he  gave  last  year,  or,  if  any- 
tlaing,  rather  more,  as  this  year  we  have 
been  prospered.  Do  you  remember  what 
was  the  amount  of  his  subscription  last 
year  ?" 

Mr.  A. — '^  One  hundred  dollars." 

Mr.  B. — "  Well,  here  is  a  check  for  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  which,  I  think, 
is  about  what  he  would  give  if  he  were  at 
home." 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  81 

"Were  all  professing  Christians  thus  to 
act  under  the  eye  of  the  Saviour,  remem- 
bering that  they  are  but  stewards  of  his 
money,  and  give  according  to  system  and 
principle,  there  would  soon  be  no  lack  of 
funds  to  carry  out  the  plans  of  the  largest 
benevolence. 


Tl 


VI. 

DUTIES  TO  THE  PASTOR. 


^  HE  relation  between  a  Christian  pas- 
p)  tor  and  Ins  people  is  represented  in 
the  Scriptures  as  very  solemn  and 
tender.  He  is  God's  messenger  to 
speak  to  them  the  words  of  truth,  to  feed 
their  souls  with  the  bread  of  life,  to  watch 
for  their  souls  as  one  who  is  soon  to  give  an 
account  to  Him  vrho  sent  him.  He  is  to 
speak  to  them  the  truth  in  love,  and  not  to 
suffer  sin  to  pass  unrebuked ;  regarding 
neither  the  frowns  nor  the  smiles,  .the 
cheering  nor  the  derision  of  those  around 
him.     He  is  to  seek,  above  all  things,  their 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  83 

edification  and  spiritual  profit,  to  study  to 
build  them  up  in  faith  and  knowledge,  and 
to  have  no  greater  joy  than  to  see  his  spirit- 
ual children  walking  in  the  truth. 

On  the  other  hand,  his  people  are  to 
esteem  him  very  highly  in  love  for  his 
work's  sake.  They  are  to  give  him  a  place 
in  their  hearts  and  in  tlieir  prayers.  They 
are  to  defend  his  reputation,  to  submit  to 
his  authority,  as  long  as  it  is  scriptural,  to 
provide  for  his  temporal  wants,  as  long  as 
he  gives  himself  wholly  to  the  Lord's  work, 
and  greatly  to  honor  the  message  which  he 
brings  them  from  God.  The  relation  of 
the  pastor  and  flock  is  such  that  it  should 
last  for  life,  unless  dissolved  by  some  very 
marked  and  plain  providence,  in  which  the 
will  of  the  Great  Head  of  the  Churcli  will 
be  clearly  seen.  The  modern  notion  of 
hiring  a  pastor  for  a  year,  just  as  a  farmer 
hires  a  man  for  his  harvest  work,  so  much 
work  for  so  much  pay,  and  then  dismissing 
him,  when  a  few  light-minded  people 
profess    to    be    dissatisfied,    and    want    a 


84  YOUNG  CONVEKTS ;    OR, 

change,  is    a   complete   caricature   of  the 
apostolic  relation  of  pastor  and  people. 

Give  your  pastor  your  love  and  confi- 
dence.    It  is  natural  that  you  should  be 
deeply   attached    to    that   minister    under 
vt^hose  preaching  you  were  brought  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 
That  you  should  like  his  preaching  best, 
and  that  you  should  feel  a  warm  glow  of 
emotion  at  the  very  mention  of  his  name  in 
after  life,  is  all  very  natural  and  proper. 
No  minister  of  good  sense  will  feel  offended, 
but  rather  pleased,  to  hear  Christians  thus 
speak  of  their  former  pastors.     But  when 
converts  set  up  a  particular  minister  as  an 
idol  in  their  souls ;  when  they  speak  as  if 
they  could  get  good  under  no  instruction 
but  his;  when  no  prayers  can  lead  their 
devotions  heavenward  but  his;  and  when 
they   refuse    to   give    their   affection    and 
confidence  to  any  other  servant  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  they  show  that  their  religion  is  of 
a   very   superficial  character,   and    justify 
serious  doubts  whether  they  are  not  marl's 
converts,  rather  than  the  converts  of  Christ. 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  85 

No  matter  what  pastor  God  in  bis  provi- 
dence places  you  under,  if  lie  be  only  a 
good  man  give  bini  your  bearty  confidence 
and  co-operation.  He  may  not  be  so 
talented  and  eloquent  as  some  others,  for 
God  in  bis  sovereign  goodness  has  given  a 
variety  of  gifts  to  bis  ministers,  but  be  is 
God's  messenger  to  you,  and  it  is  at  the 
peril  of  your  soul  that  you  despise  his 
message.  By  careful  study  of  the  Word  of 
God,  he  has  prepared  his  sermons  with 
great  mental  toil,  and  poured  bis  soul  out 
in  prayer  over  them,  and  there  is  good  for 
your  soul  in  them,  if  you  only  place  your 
mind  in  a  proper  attitude.  Not  the  spirit 
of  carping  criticism  and  fault-finding  is 
blessed,  but  that  of  earnest  thirsting  after 
truth,  saying,  "  Speak,  Lord,  for  thy  servant 
hearetb."  Professing  Christians  will  some- 
times go  home  from  the  bouse  of  God, 
and  in  the  presence  of  their  children  and  of 
the  impenitent,  utter  the  most  unmerciful 
criticisms  upon  their  pastor  and  his  public 
efforts  ;  and  then  M^onder  that  their  children 
are  not  converted.     In  the  great  day  of 


86  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

God,  it  may  be  foiuicl  that  they  have  been 
the  murderers  of  their  children's  souls,  bv 
filling  their  minds  with  prejudice  against 
the  truth  and  its  messenger. 

Go  to  the  pastor  in  all  your  spiritual 
difficulties,  and  make  him  the  confidant  of 
your  soul-experiences.  He  will  be  able  to 
cheer  and  encourage  you,  and  to  make  the 
truth,  in  its  beautiful  adaptations,  to  bear 
upon  your  case.  And  when  you  receive 
good  under  his  ministry,  do  not  be  afraid  to 
mention  it  to  him.  It  will  not  make  him 
proud,  but  will  cheer  and  encourage  him. 
When  any  one  seems  impressed  under  his 
preaching,  bring  the  case  under  his  obser- 
vation, that  it  may  be  made  a  matter  of 
special  prayer  and  inquiry.  You  will 
thus  become  a  co-worker  with  3'our  pastor  ; 
and  he  needs  such  aids.  There  is  no  work 
on  earth  so  solemn  and  responsible,  and 
none  that  so  completely  taxes  all  a  man's 
best  powers.  Xone  but  those  who  have 
been  called  to  the  work,  can  tell  the  care 
and  anxiety  that  fill  the  laithful  pastor's 
heart,  often  chasing  sleep  from  his  pillow 


.   BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  8T 

for  whole  nights.  Resolve  that  if  you 
cannot  lighten  these  cares,  that,  at  least, 
you  will  not  intentionally  add  to  their 
number.  God  may  bless  you  for  his  ser- 
vant's sake. 

But  again,  let  me  urge  you  to  pray  for 
your  pastor.  I  am  aware  that  this  may 
seem  a  very  common-place  remark,  but  the 
act  spoken  of  is  no  common-place  thing. 
More  depends  upon  this  than  we  have  even 
imagination  to  conceive  of.  See  with  what 
earnestness  the  Apostles  urged  the  churches 
to  pray  for  them,  showing  what  an  impor- 
tant matter  they  regarded  it.  A  minister 
is  set  up  in  a  prominent  position.  His 
every  action  and  movement  is  watched  and 
talked  about.  He  is  a  target  set  up  for 
every  gossiping  and  malignant  tongue  to 
shoot  at.  He  is  a  man  of  like  passions 
with  others,  exposed  to  peculiar  temptations, 
and  Satan  knows  that  if  he  can  cause  him 
to  fall,  the  injury  done  to  the  cause  of  truth 
will  be '  very  great.  We  may  be  sure, 
therefore,  that  the  enemy  will  try  every 
hellish  dart  to  bring  him  down.     He  needs 


88  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OE, 

the  prayers  of  God's  people  as  a  man,  that 
more  than  common  supplies  of  grace  may 
be  given  to  him,  that  he  may  be  an  example 
to  the  flock,  and  be  of  good  report  to  all. 

And  he  needs  the  prayers  of  the  faithful 
as  a  minister,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  may  be 
with  him  in  his  studies  and  in  his  public 
ministrations.  If  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not 
with  him,  his  best  efforts  will  utterly  fail. 
The  attention  of  sinners  will  not  be  arrest- 
ed, and  their  minds  will  grow  darker  and 
their  hearts  harder,  under  the  preaching  of 
the  word.  The  church  will  not  be  inter- 
ested as  they  ought,  and  the  sad  spectacle 
of  a  listless  congregation  will  be  exhibited 
in  the  sight  of  God,  angels,  and  men.  Can 
there  be  any  sight  more  heart-rending  to  a 
truly  godly  minister,  while  preaching  those 
great  truths  that  thrill  all  heaven  with 
delight,  than  to  see  some  sleeping,  some 
yawning,  some  gazing  vacantly  around, 
and  frequently  consulting  their  watches, 
as  if  thinking  more  of  their  dinners  tlian 
the  great  business  of  the  sanctuary.  Yet 
all  this  is  often  seen  when  the  sermon  is 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  89 

able  and  eloquent,  and  when  the  best  part 
of  the  week  has  been  given  to  its  prepa- 
ration. Let  the  Spirit  of  God  be  poured 
out,  and,  under  the  same  sermon,  what  a 
diiferent  state  of  things  !  A  deep  solemnity 
pervades  the  house,  every  eye  is  fixed  upon 
the  preacher,  tears  stream  down  many 
faces,  that  old  hardened  sinner  trembles  so 
that  he  can  scarcely  keep  his  seat,  and  that 
old  saint  seems  ready  to  shout  aloud,  "  It 
is  the  Lord's  doings,  and  it  is  marvelous  in 
our  eyes."  One  mighty  wave  of  salvation 
rolls  over  the  congregation  and  preacher 
and  people  separate,  feeling  that  it  was 
good  to  be  there.  Such  is  the  state  of 
things  that  God  gives  to  a  praying  people 
— to  a  people  that  plead  and  wrestle  before 
God  in  private  for  their  minister. 

On  this  subject  Prof  Finney  says  :  "  I 
have  seen  Christians  who  would  be  in 
an  agony,  when  the  minister  was  going 
into  the  pulpit,  for  fear  his  mind  should  be 
in  a  cloud,  or  his  heart  cold,  o^  he  should 
have  no  unction,  and  so  a  blessing  should 
not  come,     I  have  labored  with  a  man  of 


90 


YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 


this  sort.  He  would  praj  until  he  got  an 
assurance  in  his  mind  that  God  would  be 
with  me  in  preaching.  I  have  known  the 
time  when  he  has  been  in  darkness  for  a 
season,  while  the  people  were  gathering, 
and  his  mind  was  full  of  anxiety,  and  he 
would  go  again  and  again  to  pray,  till 
finally  he  would  come  into  the  room  with  a 
placid  face,  and  say,  '  The  Lord  has  come, 
and  he  will  be  with  us.'  And  I  do  not 
know  that  I  ever  found  him  mistaken." 

Again  he  says,  "  I  have  known  a  church 
bear  their  minister  on  their  arms  in  prayer 
from  day  to  day,  and  watch  with  anxiety 
unutterable,  to  see  that  he  has  the  Holy 
Ghost  with  him  in  his  labors  !  "When  tliej' 
feel  and  pray  thus,  O  what  feelings  and 
what  looks  are  manifest  in  the  couirre^a- 
tion  !  Thej^  have  felt  anxiety  unutterable 
to  have  the  word  come  with  power,  and 
take  effect,  and  when  they  see  their  prayer 
answered,  and  they  hear  a  word  or  a 
sentence  come  warm  from  the  heart,  and 
take  effect  among  the  people,  you  can  see 
their  whole  souls  look  out  of  their  eyes. 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  91 

How  different  is  the  case  where  the  church 
feel  that  the  minister  is  praying,  and  so 
there  is  no  need  of  their  praying !  They 
are  mistaken.  The  church  must  desire 
and  pray  for  the  blessing.  God  says  he 
will  be  inquired  of  ly  the  house  of  Israel. 
I  wish  you  to  feel  that  there  can  be  no 
substitute  for  this." 

Do  not  allow  yourself  to  be  made  a  party 
in  any  scheme  against  the  pastor.  If,  for 
any  reason,  a  minister's  usefulness  in  a 
place  has  come  to  an  end,  and  it  is  thought 
that  he  ought  to  leave,  that  the  good  of  the 
church  requires  it,  then,  let  the  leading 
men  of  the  church  that  he  knows  have  been 
his  true  friends,  go  to  him  in  a  straightfor- 
ward Christian  spirit,  and  tell  him  so ;  and 
in  nearly  every  instance  the  separation  will 
be  effected  without  difficulty.  But  there 
are,  unfortunately,  in  some  churches  men 
who  will  not  pursue  a  straightforward  way, 
if  the}^  can  find  a  crooked  one.  They  will 
wire-pull,  and  plot,  and  form  parties,  and 
seek  the  removal  of  a  minister,  when  the 
highest  interests  of  the  church  require  that 


92  YOUNG  CONVERTS  *,    OR 

he  should  remain.  One  does  it  from  the 
mere  love  of  change,  another  because  he 
has  some  friend  that  he  wishes  to  get  into 
the  pastoral  office,  another  because  some 
outsider  has  become  offended  with  the 
minister,  and  withdrawn  his  subscription, 
and  some  because  the  truth  spoken  has 
pinched  their  consciences. 

My  dear  young  reader,  have  nothing  to 
do  with  these  plotters.  The  whole  thing 
is  wicked  in  its  inception  and  execution. 
God  must  frown  upon  it,  and  will  visit  with 
a  fearful  "  Woe,"  those  by  whom  such 
offences  come.  Let  the  following  statement 
by  one  who  has  had  experience  in  this 
matter,  teach  its  own  lesson." 

He  says,  "  Many  years  ago,  I  was  drawn 
into  a  scheme  to  nproot  one  of  God's 
servants  from  the  field  in  which  he  had 
planted  him.  I  and  the  men  that  led  me — 
for  I  admit  that  I  was  a  dupe  and  a  tool — 
flattered  ourselves  that  we  were  conscien- 
tious. "We  thought  that  we  were  doing 
God  service  when  we  drove  that  holy  man 
from  his  pulpit  and  his  work,  and  said  we 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WAYS.  93 

considered    liis    labors    ended   in  B , 


where  I  then  lived ;  we  groaned  because 
there  was  no  revival,  while  we  were 
gossiping  about  and  criticizing,  and  crush- 
ing instead  of  upholding  by  our  efforts 
and  our  prayers,  the  instrument  at  whose 
hand  we  harshly  demanded  the  blessing. 
Well,  sir,  he  could  not  drag  on  the  chariot 
of  salvation  with  half  a  dozen  of  us  taunting 
him  with  his  weakness,  while  we  hung  on 
as  a  dead  weight  to  the  wheels ;  he  had  not 
the  power  of  the  Spirit,  and  could  not 
convert  men  ;  so  we  hunted  him  like  a  deer, 
till,  torn  and  bleeding,  he  fled  into  a  covert 
to  die.  Scarcely  had  he  gone,  when  God 
came  among  us  by  his  Spirit  to  show  that 
he  had  blessed  the  labors  of  his  dear, 
rejected  servant.  Our  own  hearts  were 
broken  and  our  wayward  children  convert- 
ed, and  I  resolved  at  a  convenient  season 
to  visit  my  former  pastor  and  confess  my 
sin,  and  thank  him  for  his  faithfulness  to 
my  wayward  sons,  which  like  long-buried 
seed  had  now  sprung  up.  But  God  denied 
me  that  relief,  that  he  might  teach  me  a 


94:  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OK 


lesson  every  child  of  bis  ought  to  learn,  that 
he  who  toucheth  one  of  his  servants  touch- 
eth  the  apple  of  his  eye.  I  heard  my  old 
pastor  was  ill,  and  taking  my  son  with  me, 
set  out  on  a  twenty -five  miles'  ride  to  see 
him.  It  was  evening  when  I  arrived,  and 
his  wife,  w^ith  the  spirit  which  any  true 
woman  ought  to  exhibit  towards  one  who 
had  so  wronged  her  husband,  denied  me 
admittance  to  his  chamber.  She  said,  and 
her  words  were  as  arrows  to  my  soul,  '  He 
may  be  dying,  and  the  sight  of  your  face 
might  add  to  his  anguish  !' 

"  '  Has  it  come  to  this,'  said  I  to  myself, 
'  that  the  man  whose  labors  bad,  through 
Christ,  brought  me  into  his  fold,  whose 
hands  had  buried  me  in  baptism,  who  had 
consoled  my  spirit  in  a  terrible  bereave- 
ment, and  wbo  had,  till  designing  men  had 
alienated  us,  been  to  me  as  a  brother  — 
that  this  man  could  not  die  in  peace  with 
my  face  before  him.  '  God  pity  me !'  I 
cried,  '  what  have  I  done  V  I  confessed 
my  sin  to  that  meek  woman  and  implored 
her  for  Christ's  sake  to  let  me  kneel  before 


BEGmNEES  IN  ZION's  WAYS.  05 

His  dying  servant,  and  receive  his  forgive- 
ness. What  did  I  care  then  whether  the 
pews  by  the  door  were  rented  or  not?  I 
would  gladly  have  taken  his  Mdiole  family 
to  my  home  forever  as  ni}^  own  flesh  and 
blood,  but  no  such  happiness  was  before 
me. 

"  As  I  entered  the  room  of  the  blessed 
warrior,  whose  armor  was  just  falling  from 
his  limbs,  he  opened  his  languid  eyes  and 
said,  '  Brother  Lee  !  Brother  Lee  !'  I  bent 
over  him  and  sobbed  out  '  My  pastor !' 
Then  raising  his  white  hand,  he  said  in  a 
deep,  impressive  voice,  '  Touch  not  mine 
aunointed,  and  do  my  prophets  no  harm  !' 
I  spoke  tenderly  to  him,  told  him  I  had 
come  to  confess  my  sin,  and  bring  some  of 
his  fruit  to  him,  calling  my  son  to  tell  him 
how  he  found  Christ.  But  he  was  uncon- 
scious of  all  around ;  the  sight  of  my  face 
had  brought  the  last  pang  of  earth  to  his 
spirit. 

"  I  kissed  his  brow,  and  told  him  how 
dear  he  had  been  to  me  ;  I  craved  his 
pardon  for  my  unfaithfulness,  and  promised 


96  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

to  care  for  his  widow  and  fatherless  little 
ones :  but  his  only  reply,  murmured  as  if 
in  a  troubled  dream,  was  '  Touch  not  my 
annointed,  and  do  my  prophets  no  harm.' 

'•  I  stayed  by  him  all  night,  and  at  day- 
break I  closed  his  eyes.  I  offered  his 
widow  a  house  to  live  in,  the  remainder  of 
her  days ;  but  like  a  heroine  she  said,  '  I 
freely  forgive  you,  but  my  children,  who 
entered  deeply  into  their  father's  anguis  , 
shall  never  see  me  so  regardless  of  his 
memory  as  to  take  any  thin  from  those 
who  caused  it.  He  has  left  us  all  with 
his  covenant  God,  and  he  will  care  for  us.' 

"  Those  dying  words  sounded  in  my  ears 
from  that  coffin  and  that  grave.  When  I 
slept,  Christ  stood  before  me  in  my  dreams, 
saying,  '  Touch  not  mine  annointed,  and 
do  my  proj^hets  no  harm.'  These  words 
followed  me  till  I  realized  fully  the  esteem 
in  which  Christ  holds  those  men  who  have 
given  up  all  for  his  sake,  and  I  vowed  to 
love  them  evermore  for  his  sake,  even  if 
they  were  not  perfect.  And  since  that 
day,  Sir,  I  have  talked  less  than  before. 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WAYS.  97 

and  Lave  supported  my  pastor,  even  if  he 
is  not  a  '  very  extraordinary  man.'  My 
tongue  shall  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth, 
and  mv  rio-ht  hand  forget  its  cunning, 
before  I  dare  to  put  asunder  what  'God  has 
joined  together." 

The  above  narrative  was  spoken  to  one 
who  had  approached  him  to  help  in  induc- 
ing a  pastor  to  resign  ;  and,  therefore,  he 
added,  "I  will  not  join  you  in  the  scheme 
that  brought  you  here ;  and,  moreover,  if  I 
hear  another  word  of  this  from  your  lips, 
I  shall  ask  my  brethren  to  deal  with  you 
as  with  them  who  cause  divisions.  I  would 
give  all  I  own  to  recall  what  I  did  thirty 
years  ago.  Stop  where  you  are,  and  pray 
God,  if  perchance  the  thought  of  your 
heart  be  forgiven  you." 

There  are  a  great  many  ways  in  which 
you  can  helj)  your  pastor  in  his  solemn  and 
responsible  work.  A  very  distinguished 
and  successful  minister  said  that  a  poor  old 
lady  in  his  church  helped  him  to  preach 
more  than  all  the  books  in  his  library. 
She  was  always  in  her  place  in  the  house 
13 


98  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

of  God,  and  so  deeply  attentive  that  she 
scarcely  lifted  her  eyes  from  his  face,  from 
the  beginnino;  to  the  close  of  his  sermon. 
When  he  would  bring  out  some  sweet 
promise,  or  tlie  rich  unction  of  Gospel  truth, 
her  countenance  would  light  up  with  joy, 
and  her  whole  manner  would  show  that  she 
was  enjoying  a  feast  at  the  banqueting 
table  of  God.  When  the  weather  was  de- 
pressing, the  congregation  small,  or  bodily 
languor  made  him  feel  as  if  he  could 
scarcely  preach  at  all,  the  sight  of  that  one 
liearer's  eager  and  expectant  face  would 
rouse  up  his  whole  soul.  Sometimes  in  his 
study,  when  tempted  to  take,  for  the  next 
Sabbath,  some  speculative  theme  in  which 
he  might  display  his  learning,  the  thought 
of  that  old  lady  would  call  him  back  to  the 
rich  pastures  of  the  Gospel ;  for  he  felt  that 
she  would  be  disappointed  of  her  Sabbath 
feast. 

By  a  punctual  attendance  upon  the 
prayer-meetings  of  the  church,  and  prompt- 
ly taking  part  in  the  services,  you  can 
greatly  aid  your  pastor.     Many  stay  away 


UJiGINKERS  IN  ZION'S  WAYS.  99 

from  these  meetings  altogether,  and  many 
who  attend  embarrass  the  pastor  very  much 
by   their  way   of  conducting   themselves. 
They  will  come  late,  skulk  away  into  some 
corner  as  much  out  of  sight  as  possible,  see 
the  meetino;  drao^cino;  alona;  for  want  of 
some  one  to  take  part,  and  yet  keep  their 
seats,  and  do  nothing  to  promote  the  interest 
of  the  meeting.  And  yet  such  persons  will  be 
the  very  first  to  complain  of  the  meetings 
being  dull.     Now,  any  thing  that  is  worth 
doing  at  all  is  worth  doing  well.     Go  to 
the  meeting  early.     Go  forward  near  where 
the  pastor  is,  as  if  you  felt  identified  with 
the  people  of  God  and  with  the  welfiire  of 
Zion.     Do  not  allow  long  pauses  to  throw  ■ 
a  damper  upon  the  meeting,  but  speak  and 
pray,  and  encourage  others  to  do  the  same, 
so  that  the  whole  time  of  the  meeting  may 
be  taken  up.     All  this  will  cheer  and  com- 
fort the  pastor  very  much,  and,  what  is  far 
more  important,  it  will  secure  the  approval 
of  the  gracious  Saviour,  who  from  his  lofty 
seat  in  the  heavens  is  looking  down  to  see 
how  you  do  your  duty. 


100         YOUNG  converts;  or,  etc, 

"When  your  pastor  feels  it  his  duty  to 
faithfully  expose  the  sins  of  professors, 
and  pointedly  speak  to  sinners,  sustain  him 
in  it,  even  when  the  word  condemns  your- 
self He  is  God's  servant,  and  at  the  peril 
of  his  soul  he  must  preach  what  his  Master 
bids  him.  A  minister  was  once  atiked  not 
to  preach  so  hard,  for  if  he  did,  certain 
persons  would  leave  the  church.  "  Is  not 
the  preaching  true?"  he  asked.  "Yes." 
"  Does  not  God  bless  it  ?"  "  Yes."  "  Did 
you  ever  see  the  like  of  this  work  before  in 
this  place  ?"  "  No,  I  never  did."  "  Well," 
said  the  minister,  "  the  devil  has  sent  you 
to  me,  to  get  me  to  let  down  the  tone  of 
my  preaching,  so  as  to  ease  the  minds  of 
the  ungodly."  The  man  took  the  rebuke 
like  a  good  man,  and  never  afterward  com- 
plained of  plain  preaching. 


YIL 

DUTIES  m  THE  SABBATH 
SCHOOL. 


)T  IS  the  uniform  desire  of  all  true 
converts  to  do  something  to  glorify 
^  Christ.  The  joy  and  peace  which 
they  have  themselves  experienced, 
they  long  to  see  others  enjoy  ;  and  having 
been  led  to  feel  the  value  of  their 
own  souls,  they  are  made  intensely  to 
long  for  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of  others. 
Every  soul  that  knows  Jesus  will  long  to 
work  for  Jesus,  and  the  honest,  spontaneous 
cry  of  the  renewed  heart  is,  "  Lord  what 
wouldst  thou  have  me  to  do  ?" 


102  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OE, 

l^ow,  in  looking  for  a  field  in  which  to 
labor  for  Christ,  you  will  find  a  most  useful 
and  suitable  one  in  the  Sabbath  school. 
God  alone  can  tell,  eternity  alone  can 
unfold,  the  good  that  has  been  done  by 
these  institutions.  It  was  a  happy  day  for 
the  church,  a  happy  day  for  the  world, 
when  Robert  Raikes  conceived  the  idea  of 
gathering  the  children  together  on  the 
Sabbath  "  to  hear  of  heaven,  and  learn  the 
way."  He  had  little  idea  of  the  great 
things  that  would  grow  out  of  such  a  small 
beginning,  but  those  who  are  faithful  in  a 
few  things.  God  will  make  rulers  over 
many  things. 

In  giving  an  account  of  his  first  efforts 
that  good  man  says  :  "  The  beginning  of 
this  scheme  was  entirely  owing  to  accident. 
Some  business  leadino-  me  one  morninij 
into  the  suburbs  of  the  city,  where  the 
lowest  of  the  people  reside,  I  was  struck 
with  concern  at  seeing  a  group  of  children, 
wretchedly  ragged,  playing  in  the  street. 
I  asked  an  inhabitant  whether  those  child- 
ren belonged  to  that  part  of  the  town,  and 


BECJINNEES  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  103 

lamented  their  misery  and  idleness.  Ah, 
bir,  said  the  woman  to  whom  I  was  speak- 
ing, could  you  take  a  view  of  this  part  of 
the  town  on  Sunday,  you  would  be  sliocked 
indeed,  for  then  the  street  is  filled  with 
multitudes  of  these  wretches,  who,  released 
on  that  day  from  employment,  spend  tlieir 
time  in  noise  and  riot,  cursing  and  swear- 
ing in  a  manner  so  horrid  as  to  convey  to 
any  serious  mind  an  idea  of  hell,  rather 
than  of  any  other  place.  Upon  .the  Sab- 
bath they  are  all  given  up  to  follow  their 
inclinations  without  restraint,  as  their 
parents,  totally  abandoned  themselves, 
liave  no  idea  of  instillino-  into  the  minds  of 
their  children  principles  to  which  they 
themselves  are  entire  strangers." 

He  then  formed  the  first  Sabbath  school 
in  the  world,  and  after  a  three  years'  trial 
he  writes  to  a  friend,  "  I  wish  you  were 
here  to  make  inquiry  into  the  efibrt.  A 
woman  who  lives  in  a  lane  where  I  fixed  a 
school,  told  me  some  time  ago,  that  the 
place  was  quite  a  heaven  upon  Sundays, 
compared  to  what  it  used  to  be.     The  num- 


104  YOUNG  CONVERTS-;    OR 

ber  Vv'ho  have  learned  to  read  and  saj  tlieir 
catechism  is  so  great  that  I  am  astonished 
at  it."  From  this  small  becjinnino-  the 
work  spread,  till  in  Great  Britain  there 
were  about  one  million  of  children  in  Sab- 
bath schools,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years. 
And  now,  in  the  United  States,  and  all  over 
the  world,  millions  of  voices  unite  in  sing- 
ing-, "  I  am  glad  I'm  in  this  army." 

And  yet,  though  no  one  denies  the  good 
that  these  schools  are  doing,  it  is  a  melan- 
choly fact  that  superintendents  often  find 
it  hard  to  get  teachers  enough  out  of  the 
church  to  sustain  them.  You  will  some- 
times find  a  church  numbering  three  or 
four  hundred  members,  and  yet  their 
Sabbath  school  really  languishing  for  want 
of  teachers.  This  is  a  shame  and  a  disgrace 
in  the  sight  of  the  world,  and  must  be 
highly  displeasing  to  that  blessed  Saviour 
who  said,  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come 
unto  me,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
lieaven."  I  hope,  my  reader,  that  you  will 
require  no  urging  to  engage  in  this  work, 
but  that  from  a  deep  sense  of  duty,  and 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  105 

personal  obligations  to  Him  who  bought 
you  with  His  own  blood,  you  will  enter 
upon  it  with  all  your  heart. 

In  order  that  your  mind  may  be  suitably 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  work, 
think  of  the  infinite  value  of  the  souls  you 
are  going  to  instruct.  They  are  to  live 
forever,  and  your  words  may  make  im- 
pressions that  will  last  through  eternal  ages. 
"  Don't  write  there,"  said  one  to  a  lad 
who  was  writing  with  a  diamond  pin  on  a 
pane  of  glass  in  the  window  of  a  hotel. 
"  Why  r'  said  he. 

"  Because  you  can't  rub  it  out,"  was  the 
reply. 

Remember  that  it  is  upon  deathless 
spirits  that  you  are  writing  and  making 
impressions,  and  that  these  impressions  are 
to  remain  forever — can  never  be  rubbed 
out  ;  and  let  this  thought  make  you  sol- 
emnly careful  what  thoughts  you  present 
to  the  minds  of  your  young  charge.  Yon 
are  to  meet  them  again  at  the  bar  of  God, 
and  to  give  a  strict  account  of  what  you 
have  spoken. 
14 


106  TOUNG  CONVERTS ;    OK, 

Seek  to  meet  your  class,  therefore,  with 
a  tender,  loving  spirit — that  spirit  that 
brought  Jesus  from  his  throne  in  glory  to 
suffer  the  agonies  of  the  cross.  A  great 
painter  had  just  finished  a  gentleman's 
portrait,  and  the  artist  asked  him  his 
opinion  of  it. 

"  It  is  certainly  like,  but  much  better 
looking,"  the  gentleman  said. 

"  It  is  the  truth  told  lovingly,"  was  the 
reply  of  the  painter. 

There  is  a  transforming,  melting,  magi- 
cal power  in  love,  that  will  be  felt  by  the 
most  careless  and  hardened.  A  teacher 
that  has  prayed  for  his  class,  and  comes  to 
them  with  his  heart  full  of  love  for  their 
souls,  will  have  better  order,  better  atten- 
tion, and  do  a  thousand  times  more  good, 
than  he  who  loses  his  temper  and  permits 
himself  to  indulge  an  angry  spirit.  Let 
the  following  case  illustrate,  "  Not  long 
ago,  a  gentleman  visited  a  Sabbath  school, 
and  being  a  little  before  the  time  of  open- 
ing he  look-ed  around  him.  One  class  that 
he  noticed  had  four  boys  in  it.     Soon  their 


BEGINXERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  107 

teacher,    a   tall,   fine-looking   young  man, 
came  in,  but  with  a  downcast  countenance. 
He    took   his   seat   with   a   cold,    morose, 
almost  angry  look.     He  paid,  seemingly, 
no   attention    to   the    boys.     A    cap   was 
knocked  ofi'  the  seat.     That  made  a  titter. 
The  teacher  turned  around  and  said  sharp- 
ly, '  Boys,  be  still !'     Soon  something  else 
caused  a  louder  titter  to  pass  around  the 
class.     Moving    quickly   round    a    second 
time,  he  said,  '  Boys,  I  tell  you  be  still !' 
and  his  face  again  assumed  its  cold  expres- 
sion, now  slightly  tinged  with  real  cross- 
ness.    A  third  slight  disturbance  occurred, 
when   wnth   look   and   voice  and   manner 
decidedly  angry,  he  said,  '  Boys,  I  tell  you 
again  to  stop,  I  won't  have  this  !'  " 

Now,  it  would  be  impossible  for  that 
teacher  to  do  his  class  any  good.  It  has 
been  truly  said  that  to  make  a  child  angry 
during  his  lesson,  is  to  give  him  his  food 
scalding  hot.  We  must  not  forget  that  we 
were  once  children  ourselves  and  had 
childish  faults  ;  and  that  it  is  hard  for  the 
young   to   fix  their  minds  for  any  great 


108  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OK, 

length  of  time  upon  serious  things.  Make 
your  instructions  attractive  by  preparing 
yourself  with  illustrations  suitable  to  the 
young  mind.  Study  the  lesson  carefully, 
and  with  all  the  aids  you  can  find.  Be 
kind  and  afi'ectionate  to  your  little  charge, 
and  you  will  soon  gain  an  influence  over 
them  that  will  be  seen  in  its  blessed  results 
forever.  If  they  are  sick  or  in  trouble 
visit  them  at  their  homes.  Show  them  that 
you  are  their  best  friend,  and  you  will  bind 
them  to  you  for  life.  When  I  think  of  ray 
Sabbath  school  teacher  my  heart  bounds 
with  gratitude,  and  there  is  no  man  in  the 
world  I  would  be  more  glad  to  see. 

Let  your  instructions  be  spiritual  and 
practical,  and  such  as  will  tend  directly  to 
the  conversion  of  their  souls.  Dr.  Payson 
says,  "  If  God  should  place  in  your  hand  a 
diamond,  and  tell  you  to  inscribe  on  it  a 
sentence,  which  should  be  read  at  the  last 
day,  and  shown  there  as  an  idea  of  your 
thoughts  and  feelings,  what  caution  would 
you  exercise  in  the  selection  !  This  is  what 
God  has  done  !     He  has  placed  before  you 


BEGINNEK8  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  109 

immortal  minds,  more  imperishable  than 
'the  diamond,  on  which  you  are  continually 
inscribing  by  your  spirit  or  example  some- 
thing which  will  remain,  and  be  exhibited, 
for  or  against  you  at  the  judgment  day." 
There  are  some  teachers  whose  instructions 
are  almost  entirely  speculative.     The  wan- 
derinofs   of  the   children  of  Israel  before 
reaching  the  promised  land ;  the  description 
of  the  temple  of  Solomon  ;  the  journeys  of 
the    apostle    Paul,   with    a    geographical 
account  of  the  countries  which  he  passed 
through  and  the  cities  he  visited  ;  together 
with  curious  questions  to  be  solved  from 
the  Bible.     Now,  I  do  not  say  that  the 
knowledge  of  such  things  is  not  useful,  but 
it  does  not  tend  to  promote  the   highest 
object  of  Sabbath  school  instruction,  the 
conversion  of  the  souls  of  the  young.     The 
illumination  of  the  intellect  is  good  in  its 
place,  but  the  heart  must  not  be  forgotten. 
Remember  that  children  are  capable  of 
conversion  at  a  very  early  age.     Timothy, 
from  a  child^  knew  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  was  made  wise  unto  salvation  by  them. 


110  YOUNG  CON VEETS ;    OR 

I  once  knew  a  ladj  who,  in  her  instruc- 
tions, aimed  at  the  conversion  of  her  class 
constantly.  It  was  her  habit  to  pray  for 
each  one  specially,  to  visit  them  at  their 
homes  for  religious  conversation,  and  to 
watch  anxiously  for  any  tokens  of  the  truth 
beginning  to  take  effect.  The  result  was, 
that  conversions  were  frequent  in  her  class. 
Teach  your  class  how  they  can  be  saved 
from  their  lost  and  perishing  condition. 
Hold  up  the  Ciioss,  before  their  young 
eyes,  in  its  saving  power.  The  Gospel  in 
its  beautiful  simplicity  is  admirably  adapted 
to  the  mind  of  the  child  as  well  as  the 
philosopher.  And  no  matter  what  else  you 
teach  them,  if  you  neglect  this,  you  leave 
them  destitute  of  eternal  life.  A  man  who 
had  lately  been  converted  said  to  his  min- 
ister : 

"  O,  sir,  give  your  congregation  some- 
thing to  do  that  will  make  their  peace  with 
God,  and  you  will  please  them  mightily. 
It  is  just  what  people  like.  Why,  the 
biggest  miser  in  the  parish  would  pull  out 
his  purse  and  give  somethiug  to  help  to 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  Ill 

build  a  church,  and  thej  would  put  a 
steeple  on  it  that  wonld  reach  up  near  the 
clouds,  and  put  a  weathercock  on  the  top  of 
it  again,  if  you  would  just  tell  them  that  it 
would  help  to  save  them.  People  don't 
like,  sir,  to  think  that  they  can  do  nothing ; 
and  when  they  hear  ministers  preaching, 
'  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shalt  be,  saved ;'  they  step  over  it,  and  over 
it,  and  miss  it,  perhaps,  like  me,  for  twenty- 
seven  years  ;  and  some,  I  am  afraid,  even 
till  they  die." 

Another  matter  I  would  urge  upon  you. 
Be  punctual  and  persevering  in  your 
attendance  "upon  the  Sabbath  school.  One 
of  the  greatest  difficulties  that  superinten- 
dents have  to  contend  with  is,  the  irregn- 
laritv  of  teachers  in  their  attendance.  Thev 
will  take  a  class  and  beo-in  with  c:reat 
seeming  earnestness,  but  in  a  few  months 
their  zeal  begins  to  flag,  and  they  will  be 
frequently  absent ;  it  may  be,  give  up 
altoii-ether.  I  have  seen  a  class  of  tliought- 
less  boys  far  more  punctual  in  their  attend- 
ance  than    their   teacher,    and    he,  too,   a 


112  YOUNG  CONVEKTS  ;    OK, 

professing  Christian.  This  is  a  sad  sight, 
and  calcuhited  to  do  great  injury  to  the 
cause  of  truth.  Mj  reader,  I  hope  better 
things  of  jou.  Be  in  your  place,  at  your 
post  of  duty,  regularly,  as  the  holy  day  of 
God  dawns  upon  you.  If  compelled  to  be 
absent,  state  the  reason  to  your  class,  and 
introduce  a  friend  to  take  your  place  till 
you  return. 

And  do  not  give  way  to  discouragement, 
if  you  are  not  so  successful  as  you  could 
wish.  It  is  peculiarly  a  work  of  faith. 
You  may  be  doing  a  great  deal  more  good 
than  you  can  see,  and  at  any  rate,  it  is 
yours  to  go  on  in  the  path  of  duty,  sowing 
the  seed,  and  leaving  the  result  with  God. 
"  It  is  no  use  to  try,"  said  a  young  man, 
"  they  are  so  careless  and  unconcerned, 
that  I  am  quite  sure  that  no  good  can  be 
done."  An  aged  gentleman,  to  whom  the 
remark  was  made,  replied,  "  Such  an  argu- 
ment would  at  one  time  have  satisfied  me ; 
now,  however,  I  can  see  its  fallacv.  It  is 
forty  years  since  I  was  first  a  Sabbath 
school   teacher;    and   the   boys    whom    I 


BEGINNEKS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  113 

tauglit  seemed  so  perversely  deaf  to  all  my 
words,  that  at  length  I  considered  myself 
justified  in  giving  it  up  as  a  hopeless  task. 
Daring  the  ensuing  thirty  years  of  my  life, 
I  continued  uninterested  in  the  cause  of 
Sabbath  schools,  until  a  circumstance 
occurred  which  led  me  to  see  my  error,  and 
to  return  to  my  duty. 

"  One  evening  as  I  was  returning  from 
church,  I  was  accosted  by  a  man  who 
smiled  in  my  face  and  holding  out  his  hand 
to  me  blushingly,  inquired  if  my  name  was 

not  Mr.  P ?     I  answered  that  it  was 

so.  '  Do  you  remember,'  added  he,  '  a  boy 
of  the  name  of  Dempster,  that  attended 
your  Sabbath  school  about  thirty  years 
ago  V  '  Dempster  !'  cried  I,  '  I  remember 
Tom  Dempster  very  well ;  and  a  very  wild 
and  wicked  boy  he  was !'  And  that  wild 
and  wicked  boy  was  I,'  said  the  man ; 
'  though  now,  thanks  be  to  God,  I  am  a 
a  very  diflferent  person  from  what  I  was 
then.  It  was  your  instructions,  blessed  by 
God's    Spirit,  that  brought   conviction   of 


15 


114:  YOUNG  CONVEKTS;    OR,  ETC. 

the  truth  home  to  mj  mind,  long  after  I 
had  left  your  school.'  " 

Said  the  old  gentleman,  as  he  concluded 
his  statement,  "  My  object  has  since  been, 
to  do  my  work,  and  pray  for  the  Spirit  to 
do  his." 

"  Ye  who  on  each  returning  sacred  day 
Circled  by  listening  youtliful  groups  are  seen, 
Wlio  pour  instruction  on  the  tender  mind, 
From  the  pure  well-spring  of  eternal  truth; 
In  joyful  hope  pursue  your  work  of  love. 
The  Shepherd's  eye,  which  watches  all  the  lambs, 
Upon  you  smiles,  his  kind  approval  cheers.  ■ 
Hands,  which  the  temple  of  our  God  shall  rear, 
'Tis  yours  to  guide  and  train  to  heavenly  skill. 
They  whom  benighted  heathen  tribes  shall  hail, 
'  How  beauteous  are  their  feet  who  publish  peace, ' 
Xearn  from  your  lips  salvation's  joyful  sound." 


VIII. 


DUTIES  m  THE  WORLD. 


HEN  God  converts  a  man  he  is  no 
doubt  that  moment  prepared  for 
^  heaven.  He  is  washed  in  the 
§S  blood  that  cleanses  from  all  sin, 
and  by  the  righteousness  of  Jesus  fitted  for 
the  society  of  the  sinless  congregation 
above.  Why,  then,  is  he  not  at  once  taken 
there  ?  Because  he  has  a  work  to  do  for 
others — a  testimony  to  bear  for  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  an  example  of  holy  consistency 
of  life  to  show,  that  may  lead  men  to  glo- 
rify his  Father  in  heaven.  He  is  to  live  to 
purpose,  to  live  in  a  way  worthy  of  an 


116  YOUNG  CONVERTS ;    OR, 

immortal  being — a  probationer  for  eternity. 
He  is  to  seek  to  be  useful,  and  every  day 
he  lives  to  try  and  make  the  vt^orld  better 
and  happier  for  his  having  lived  in  it. 

It  is  through  his  people  that  God  carries 
on  the  mighty  purposes  of  his  love  on 
earth.  When  Christ  fed  the  people  in  a 
miraculous  manner  with  a  few  loaves,  it  is 
said  that  he  gave  the  bread  to  the  disciples, 
and  tliey  gave  it  to  the  multitude.  And  so 
it  is  still.  The  church  is  the  appointed 
instrument  by  which  the  bread  of  life  is  to  be 
distributed  to  the  nations  of  the  earth.  "We 
sometimes  hear  it  said  of  a  professing 
Christian,  "  He  is  a  good  man,  but  he  is 
not  a  useful  man."  The  wonder  in  such  a 
case  is  how  he  can  be  said  to  be  good  at  all. 
The  great  difficulty  is  that,  in  the  opinion 
of  many,  the  indulgence  of  certain  amiable 
dispositions,  and  good  feelings,  and  benevo- 
lent emotions  is  called  goodness ;  whereas 
if  these  are  confined  to  the  individual  and 
do  not  bring  forth  fruits  to  bless  the  world, 
they  become  only  a  refined  form  of  selfish- 
ness.    The  great  reason  why  God  converts 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  117 

a  soul,  is  not  merely  to  secure  the  salvation 
of  the  individual,  but  to  start  him  on  a 
career  of  usefulness  that  may  bring  forth 
blessed  results,  lasting  as  eternity.  Hence 
Christians  in  their  new  life  are  said  to  be 
"  created  unto  good  works."  They  are  as 
much  made  to  be  useful  as  the  sun  is  made 
to  shine,  or  as  the  air  is  made  to  be 
breathed.  It  is  not  enough  that  we  "  cease 
to  do  evil,"  we  must  also  "learn  to  do 
well." 

If  then  a  Christian  professor  is  not  a 
useful  man,  it  becomes  a  very  serious  ques- 
tion whether  he  is  a  Christian  at  all.  The 
great  Master,  whose  name  he  bears,  went 
about  constantly  doing  good.  To  do  good 
to  others  was  the  delight  of  his  soul,  his 
meat  and  his  drink.  By  day,  by  night,  in 
season  and  out  of  season,  he  was  at  this 
work  of  love.  His  followers  trod  in  his 
footsteps,  and  left  us  not  a  mere  record  of 
their  feelings,  their  emotions,  or  their 
opinions ;  but  of  the  "  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles." A  Christian  in  a  truly  healthy  state 
of  mind,  retiring  to  rest  at  the  close  of  a 


118  YOUNG  CONVEKTS  ;    OR, 

day  in  which  he  had  done  nothing  for 
Jesus,  would  be  unable  to  find  repose — 
would  be  disturbed  by  the  groans  and  cries 
of  those  who  are  ready  to  perish,  and  would 
start  from  his  unrefreshing  pillow,  resolved 
to  work  while  it  is  called  to-day.  To  save 
our  country  from  the  dark  designs  of  trai- 
tors, we  have  witnessed  such  a  display  of 
patriotism  as  has  astonished  the  world.  By 
hundreds  of  thousands,  men  have  left  their 
prosperous  business,  their  comfortable 
homes,  their  loving  friends ;  and  amid  the 
roar  of  battle,  while  the  ground  quaked 
with  the  thunder  of  the  conflict,  and  the 
lieavens  grew  black  with  the  smoke  of 
death's  engines,  have  bravelv  laid  down 
their  lives  for  their  country.  And  this  is 
right.  But  ouo-lit  not  the  love  of  Christ  to 
constrain  us  to  make  equal  sacrifices  for  the 
souls  of  men  ? 

Suppose,  dear  reader,  that  you  are  sitting 
in  your  own  comfortable  home,  after  the 
toils  and  the  cares  of  the  day  are  over,  and 
the  shadows  of  evening  are  gathering 
around  you.  All  nature  is  calm  and  serene ; 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  119 

and  as  the  setting  sun  lights  up  the  clouds 
into  ever-varying  and  fantastic  forms,  and 
gilds  every  object  around  you  with  his 
departing  glory,  you  feel  your  mind  drawn 
into  a  solemn,  meditative  mood,  and  lifted 
"  From  nature  up  to  nature's  God." 

But  you  look  up  and  see  a  stranger 
approach  your  dwelling.  His  first  appear- 
ance awes  and  impresses  you.  Plis  look  is 
grave  and  solemn ;  his  cast  of  countenance 
tender  and  benevolent ;  his  apparel  plain 
and  travel- worn  ;  but  there  is  a  holy  dignity 
about  him,  that  makes  you  feel  as  you 
never  did  in  mortal  presence  before.  A 
tear  tremhles  in  his  eye  and  rolls  down  his 
expressive  face,  while  his  bosom  heaves 
under  emotions  too  big  for  utterance.  He 
speaks — and  his  words  are  words  of  fire, 
that  burn  into  your  soul.  His  thoughts 
thrill  your  heart  and  exert  an  unearthly 
influence  upon  you.  The  things  of  eternity, 
in  their  awful  grandeur,  are  brought  near 
to  you,  as  living  realities ;  and  the  world 
and  its  gayest  scenes  are  made  to  appear 
very  empty  things. 


120  YOUNG  converts;  ok 

Yon  are  wondering  wlio  this  stranger 
can  be,  when  all  at  once  your  eyes  are 
opened,  and  you  see  that  you  are  in  the 
presence  of  the  Man  of  Sorrows — your  own 
Saviour.  As  he  did  with  Thomas,  he  shows 
you  his  hands  and  his  side,  and  bids  you 
read. there  the  evidences  of  his  love.  Ho 
fixes  upon  you  that  look  that  melted  Peter's 
heart,  and  those  eyes  that  swam  in  tears  of 
anguish  for  you,  and  asks  if  you  love 
him  ?  You  fall  at  his  feet,  exclaiming, 
"  Blessed  Saviour,  I  do  love  thee ;  oh,  help 
me  to  love  thee  more  !" 

Suppose,  then,  that  he  asks  you,  as  an 
evidence  of  your  love  to  him,  that  you  go 
to  those  who  are  destitute  of  the  means  of 
grace,  and  tell  them  the  story  of  his  love, 
and  urge  them  in  his  stead  to  be  reconciled 
to  God.  You  plead,  like  Moses,  your  want 
of  eloquence,  and  your  inability  to  go, 
under  the  circumstances  in  which  you  are 
placed.  lie  then  asks  you,  if  not  able  to 
go  yourself,  that  you  will  contribute  of 
your  worldly  means  to  send  others,  who  are 
able  and  willing  to  go  ?     Now,  could  you, 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  121 

in  his  presence,  who  agonized  upon  the 
cross  for  you,  and  who  is  to  put  the  crown 
of  glorj  upon  jonr  head,  refuse  this  most 
reasonable  request  ? 

Now,  though  Jesus  is  not  thus  personally 
visiting  us  at  our  homes  and  appealing  to 
our  hearts ;  he  is  really  doing  so  through 
the  various  organizations  which  he  has 
instituted  for  proclaiming  his  truth  abroad. 
From  his  throne  in  the  heavens  he  says, 
"  Support  them,  and  I  will  account  it  as 
done  to  myself."  Standing  upon  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  in  view  of  the  scenes  of 
his  retirement,  and  devotion,  and  tragic 
sufferings,  his  farewell  command  was,  "  Go, 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."  This 
is  binding  upon  every  Christian.  We  must 
either  go  or  send.  We  live  in  an  age  of 
peculiar  promise  to  the  human  family  ;  and 
in  our  own  country,  new  and  vast  fields  of 
exertion  invite  the  energies  of  the  people 
of  God.  Forms  of  error,  with  a  zeal  that 
rebukes  us,  are  entering  these  fields.  Infi- 
delity in  some  of  its  most  loathsome  and 
dangerous  forms,  is  uttering  its  blasphe- 
16 


122  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR 

mies  against  the  Holy  One;  while  the 
religion  of  mei^e  form  and  ceremony  plants 
itself  everywhere  to  block  up  the  pathway 
of  true,  vital  godliness.  Between  these 
enemies  of  God,  coming  from  opposite 
directions,  and  with  opposing  watchwords, 
we  are  called  to  take  our  stand  and  present 
Christ's  blessed  Gospel.  It  is  ours  to  unfurl 
the  banner  that  has  been  dipped  in  the 
blood  shed  for  the  ransom  of  a  world,  and 
go  forth  to  the  holy  conflict  with  an  unwa- 
verino;  faith. 

It  is  amazing  the  amount  of  good  that 
can  be  done  by  personal  effort,  if  the  heart 
is  only  truly  alive  to  the  work.  Two  pious 
young  men  had  a  considerable  distance  to 
walk  in  order  to  reach  their  place  of  wor- 
ship. They  accordingly  agreed  to  invite 
persons  as  they  went  along,  tct  go  to  the 
house  of  God  with  them.  In  this  course 
they  persevered,  till  they  could  count  up 
no  less  than  twenty,  ten  of  whom  were 
converted  and  became  members  of  the 
church.  Another  young  man«  gathered 
together  by  his  own  exertions  a  class  of 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  123 

twelve  boys  whom  he  instructed  in  the 
truths  of  the  Bible,  on  the  Sabbath.  He 
went  on  in  spite  of  all  discouragements, 
making  each  member  of  his  class  a  subject 
of  prayer,  till  every  one  of  them  was 
brought  to  Christ.  Two  of  them  are  min- 
isters of  the  Gospel,  and  several  of  them 
are  teachers  of  the  young.  The  great 
thing  is  to  be  always  active  in  the  Master's 
service,  and  watching  for  opportunities  of 
doing  good.  Some  are  ready  to  avail 
themselves  of  what  promises  to  be  some 
great  occasion  of  usefulness ;  but  the  little 
occasions  that  are  occurring  every  hour  of 
the  day,  they  allow  to  pass  by  unnoticed. 
But  if  we  are  working  away  for  Jesus,  from 
the  motive  of  love,  no  matter  how  small 
our  sphere,  we  shall  be  approved  as  well  as 
the  missionary  who  influences  the  destiny 
of  a  nation,  or  the  martyr  who  honors  the 
truth  at  the  stake.  It  has  been  said  that  it 
is  a  great  deal  easier  to  die  once  for  Chiist 
than  to  live  always  for  Him.  And  it  is 
easier  to  do  some  great  act  that  will  attract 
the  attention  of  the  world,  than  to  go  on 


124  YOUNG  CONVERTS  *,    OR, 

patiently  plodding  through  the  daily  duties 
that  fall  in  our  way  every  hour. 

Many  souls  can  be  reached  by  personal 
conversation,  that  the  public  preaching  of 
the  word  fails  to  move.  A  gentleman  one 
day  went  into  a  store  to  do  some  business, 
and  found  the  clerk  alone.  He  was  a 
moral  man  and  a  regular  attendant  upon 
the  means  of  grace.  The  gentleman  asked 
if  he  felt  any  anxiety  about  the  salvation  of 
his  soul.  "I  cannot  say  that  I  do,"  was 
the  reply.  "  You  believe  that,  as  a  sinner, 
you  cannot  be  saved  in  any  way  but 
through  faith  in  Christ?"  "Yes,  I  believe 
it,  but  I  do  not  feel  it."  "  Then  you  ac- 
knowledge that  you  are  exposed  to  die  and 
be  lost  at  any  moment?"     "Yes,  I  know 

that  it  is  so."  "  Now  then,"  said  the  gen- 
tlemen, "  you  know  your  duty  to  repent  of 

sin  and  believe  in  Christ ;  will  you  begin 
this  moment  to  do  your  duty  as  far  as  you 
know  how ? '  "I  will,"  he  replied.  In  a 
few  days  that  young  man  was  a  happy 
Christian.  How  many  professing  Chris- 
tians would  have  let  that  opportunity  of 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  125 

doing  good  pass,  and  through  such  neglect 
that  soul  might  have  been  lost. 

I  would  seek  deeply  to  impress  upon  the 
mind  of  the  young  convert  the  importance 
of  cultivating  great  skill  and  wisdom  in 
speaking  to  sinners  about  their  souls. 
Great  injury  may  be  done  by  a  rash  and 
imprudent  mode  of  approach.  There  is 
such  a  thing  as  being  wise  to  ivin  souls. 
There  is  a  certain  skill  and  tact  which  some 
possess  that  we  should  seek  to  imitate.  Let 
the  following  fact  help  to  illustrate  this.  A 
very  wicked,  passionate  man,  became 
neighbor  to  a  devoted  minister  of  the  Gos- 
pel. He  began  a  career  of  sin,  and  de- 
clared his  purpose  to  insult  the  minister  if 
he  should  attempt  to  speak  to  him.  In  a 
little  time  after  the  hardened  man  was 
taken  down  by  a  severe  sickness,  and  the 
minister  resolved  to  go  and  see  him. 

"  If  you  do  he  will  insult  you,"  said  the 
friend  who  had  informed  him  of  the  man's 
sickness. 

"  I  will  see  him,  nevertheless,  and  look 
to  God  for  guidance  and  blessing,"  replied 
the  minister. 


126  YOUNG  CONVERTS ;    OE, 

Accordingly  lie  called  and  inquired  of 
the  sick  man  about  his  health.  He  received 
very  curt,  and  almost  uncivil  replies.  But 
without  saying  one  word  of  his  own  on 
religion,  he  opened  his  Bible  and  said,  "  If 
you  please  I  will  read  to  you."  He  read 
the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Luke,  offered  a 
short  prayer,  and  left. 

Next  day  he  again  called,  read  the  fifty- 
third  chapter  of  Isaiah,  again  prayed,  and 
left  as  before  without  saying  a  word  of  his 
own.  This  course  he  continued  for  some 
time,  till  one  day  the  hardened  sinner 
broke  completely  down,  grasped  the  min- 
ister's hand,  wept,  confessed  himself  a 
sinner,  and  said  he  was  a  wonder  to  him- 
self. 

"  It  is  God,"  replied  the  minister ;  "  I 
have  not  spoken  a  word.  God  has  spoken. 
He  has  done  this." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  man,  "  I  see  it  now.  If 
you  had  spoken  a  single  word  of  your  own 
to  me  when  first  you  came,  or  for  some 
time  after,  I  would  not  have  borne  it. 
"Weak  as  I  was,  I  should  have  tried  to 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  12'' 

turn  you  out  of  my  house.  I  was  aston- 
ished at  your  daring  to  come  to  me.  You 
took  me  by  surprise.  I  could  not  be  angry 
when  you  asked  in  such  a  kind  way  after 
my  health.  You  read  me  those  beautiful 
words.  I  knew  they  were  not  your  own 
words,  but  God's  own  words,  and  I  was 
silent.  You  shut  the  book,  and  I  thought 
you  would  begin  to  reproach  me  and  tell 
me  what  a  sinful  wretch  I  was,  and  then 
would  be  my  time  to  speak ;  but  I  looked 
up  and  saw  you  on  your  knees,  and  heard 
you  praying  for  me,  and  then,  without 
another  word,  you  were  gone." 

We  have  here  a  proof  of  great  tact  and 
good  judgment — a  union  of  zeal  and  know- 
ledge that  is  beautiful  to  look  upon,  and 
worthy  of  imitation.  "When  a  sinner  is 
angry  or  excited  by  intoxicating  liquor,  or 
in  the  presence  of  his  wicked  companions, 
it  will  often  do  more  harm  than  good,  to 
speak  to  him  about  religion,  or  rebuke  him 
for  his  sins.  So,  to  enter  into  discussion 
with  him  on  some  matter  of  controversy  is 
improper.     By   getting   the  sinner   alone, 


128  TOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

speaking  to  liim  in  love,  pressing  the  truth 
solemnly  upon  his  conscience,  and  speaking 
briefly,  you  may  expect  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
bless  your  efforts.  And  O,  what  a  matter 
of  eternal  joy  to  win  one  soul  to  Jesus  ! 

In  conversing  with  inquiring  souls,  much 
prudence  is  required.  Great  care  should 
be  taken  that  the  mind  may  not  be  diverted 
from  the  necessity  of  an  immediate  trust  in. 
Christ.  When  the  mind  is  in  an  awakened 
state,  it  is  ready  to  seek  comfort  any  where 
but  in  the  right  place,  in  anything  but  in 
Jesus.  I  have  somewhere  read  of  a  young 
lady  who  was  made  to  feel  that  she  was  a 
lost  sinner.  She  was  in  an  agony  of  mind, 
and  could  find  no  relief  She  had  a  pious 
brother  who  was  from  home  at  the  time, 
and  she  began  to  indulge  the  feeling  that 
she  must  wait  till  he  came  home,  and  that 
he  would  help  her  to  come  to  Jesus. 

When  the  brother  came  home,  he  was 
informed  of  the  state  of  things,  and  he 
made  up  his  mind  to  go  to  his  own  room 
without  seeing  her;  but  as  he  passed  the 
door  of  her  room,  she  sprang  out  and  drew 
him  back,  crying  out : 


BEGINNEKS  IN  ZION's  WAYS.  129 

"  O,  brother,  save  me !  save  me !  If  you 
don't  I  shall  die !" 

The  brother  reflected  a  moment,  and 
then  pushing  her  away  almost  roughly, 
and  yet  with  a  voice  trembling  with  affec- 
tion, said : 

"And  so  you  will  come  to  ine  rather 
than  to  Jesus !  /  can  do  nothing  at  all  for 
you." 

And  thus  left  to  herself— her  false  refuge 
torn  away,  she  felt  that  all  her  trouble  had 
been  because  she  was  unwilling  to  come  to 
Christ,  and  in  a  short  time  she  surrendered 
to  Him,  and  was  at  peace. 

"  Sow  ye  beside  all  waters 

Where  the  dew  of  Heaven  may  fall ; 
Te  shall  reap  if  ye  be  not  weary, 

For  the  Spirit  breathes  o'  er  all. 
Sow,  though  the  thorns  may  wound  thee; 

One  wore  the  thorns  for  thee; 
And  though  the  cold  world  scorn  thee, 

Patient  and  hopeful  be. 
Sow  ye  beside  all  waters, 

With  a  blessing  and  a  prayer, 
Name  him  whose  hand  upholds  U3, 

And  sow  thou  every  where." 

17 


IX. 


FOES  TO  GRACE. 


VERY  thing  good  in  this  world  of 
sin  and  depravity  has  foes  to  en- 
counter, that  aim  at  its  destruction. 
This  is  especially  true  of  grace  in 
heart.  It  did  not  grow  up  there 
naturally,  of  itself,  but  had  to  be  planted 
by  the  Divine  hand,  and  the  same  power 
that  put  it  there  must  keep  it  there ;  the 
same  agency  that  gave  spiritual  life  must 
sustain  that  life.  Nevertheless,  we  must 
be  co-workers  with  God  in  this  work.  We 
must  watch  as  well  as  pray  against  the 
approach  of  every  spiritual  foe.     We  must 


begijntnees  in  zion's  ways.         131 

not  pray  against  temptation,  and  then  run 
into  it ;  we  must  not  ask  for  spiritual  health, 
and  then  swallow  poison.  Whatever  we 
find  to  be  an  enemy  to  the  work  of  God  in 
our  souls,  we  must  be  ready  to  sacrifice, 
though  dear  to  us  as  a  right  hand  or  a  right 
eye. 

Now,  one  thing  that  tends  greatly  to 
destroy  the  life  of  God  in  the  souls  of  many 
young  converts  is  the  rage  for  amusements 
that  abounds  in  the  present  day.  Uncon- 
verted men  are  called  "lovers  of  pleasure 
more  than  lovers  of  God."  This  is  the 
object  for  which  they  live,  the  paltry, 
selfish  purpose  to  which  they  give  up  their 
whole  being.  This  is  to  be  expected  from 
them,  and  we  do  not  wonder  at  it.  But 
when  those  who  profess  to  be  dead  with 
Christ  to  the  world,  and  to  have  risen  with 
him  into  a  new  life,  join  with  the  world  in 
their  amusements,  till  both  get  blended 
together,  and  the  distinction  between  the 
world  and  the  church  is  nearly  lost,  tlien 
is  there  ground,  not  merely  for  astonish- 
ment, but  for  the  deepest  alarm. 


132  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ',    OR, 

Permit  me  to  say  that  I  am  no  enemy  to 
recreations  and  innocent  amusements.  The 
mind  of  man  is  not  made  to  be  ever  upon 
the  stretch.  We  have  as  a  nation  too  few 
holidays,and  we  should  unbend  oftener  than 
-,  0  do,  amid  the  beauties  of  nature,  and  the 
pleasures  of  congenial  social  intercourse. 
There  is  a  time  to  laugh  as  well  as  a  time 
to  weep.  It  has  been  said  that  Jesus  wept 
but  never  laughed.  This  I  do  not  believe. 
He  was  not  only  God  but  man  also,  and  it 
is  a  part  of  man's  nature  to  laugh  as  well 
as  to  weep.  It  is  true  that  we  have  no 
account  of  his  laughing,  and  neither  have 
we  of  many  other  things  that  doubtless  he 
did,  as  man.  To  laugh  is  not  sinful  unless 
it  is  at  sin  we  are  laughing.  The  religion 
of  superstition  is  always  gloomy,  but  the 
religion  of  Christ  is  cheerful,  and  fills  the 
soul  with  gladness.  Still,  all  this  is  no  plea 
for   Christians   indulging  in    worldly  and 

nful    amusements.     Our    religion   is    to 


81 


&' 


regulate  our  recreations  as  well  as  every 
thing  else. 

There   are   few    things    that    tends    to 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WATS.  133 

hurt  the  spirituality  of  Christians  in  the 
present  day  more  than  those  religious  fe%- 
tivals  and  fairs^  gotten  up  for  the  purpose 
of  -eupporting  some  religious  and  benevo- 
lent object.  The  object  to  be  accomplished 
is  so  good,  the  motive  of  many  of  those  who 
take  part  in  them  is  so  good,  that  men  get 
blinded  to  the  many  great  evils  connected 
with  them.  These  evils  are  allowed  under 
a  religious  name,  and  under  religious 
sanctions,  so  that  conscience  is  confused 
and  seduced,  and  ceases  rightly  to  perform 
its  functions ;  and  the  young  Christian  is 
betrayed  into  calling  evil  good.  In  former 
times  if  a  church  wanted  to  build  a  place  of 
worship,  or  pay  off  a  debt  upon  one  already 
built,  they  put  their  hands  in  their  pockets 
and  paid  it.  If  voluntary  aid  could  be 
obtained  from  the  world,  good  and  well; 
but  they  never  thought  of  getting  up  an 
entertainment  that  would  please  the  ungod- 
ly, and  compromise  the  dignity  of  truth, 
for  the  paltry  purpose  of  getting  a  little 
money  from  the  hands  of  the  wicked.  0, 
no;  they  would  have  worshipped  God  in  a 


134:  YOUNG  CONVERTS  I    OR 


barn,  or  in  a  log  school  house,  all  their 
days,  rather  than  have  done  so ! 

To  see  God's  professed  people,  respect- 
able matrons,  old  men,  church  officers,  and 
young  Christians,  get  up  tableaus  and  the- 
atrical performances,  and  dress  themselves 
up  in  some  fantastic  style  for  the  purpose 
of  amusing  a  gaping  crowd, — is  most  mor- 
tifying and  distressing  to  sober,  thoughtful 
Christians.  And  then  I  am  told,  that 
sometimes  the  whole  ends  with  a  ra-ffle^ 
which  every  body  knows  is  a  species  of 
gambling,  O,  it  was  a  sad  sight  to  see 
the  wicked  gambling  for  our  Lord's  gar- 
ments at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  but  it  is  still 
sadder  to  see  professed  Christians  encour- 
aging the  same  evil,  in  the  name  of  our 
holy  religion.  "  My  soul  come  not  thou 
into  their  secret ;  my  honor  with  them  be 
not  thou  united  !" 

The  spirituality  of  individuals  and 
churches  is  very  much  injured,  in  our  cities 
and  large  towns,  by  those  fashionable 
parties  that  have  come  so  much  into  vogue 
of  late.     These  parties  are  often  uj30u  a 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WAYS.  135 

scale  of  great  extravagance  and  expense, 
quite  inconsistent    with   the    simplicity  of 
Christ ;  and  this  evil  increases  as  a  rivalship 
gets  up  among  the  members  of  the  church, 
as  to  who  will  give  the  finest  entertain- 
ment.    The  whole  winter  passes  off  in  a 
round  of  these  assemblages,  so  that  Chris- 
tians will  be  called  to  attend' two  or  three 
of  them  in  a  week.     The  entertainment  is 
kept  up  to  a  very  late  hour,  so  that  family 
worship  is  neglected  in  most  of  the  homes  of 
those   who   attend   them,    and  it  is  to  be 
feared  closet  worship  too.     A  winter  spent 
in  this  kind  of  dissipation  is  sure  to  injure 
the  devotional  spirit,  and  to  break  up  those 
fixed  habits  of  godliness  which  all  profes- 
sors should  form  and  preserve.     Of  course 
I   do   not   utter   one   word   against   social 
enjoyment  with  the  good.     We  are  made 
social    beings,   and    many   of    the    purest 
enjoyments  of  our  lives  spring  from  this 
source.     Eeligion,    instead    of   repressing 
this  part  of  our  nature,  directs  and  elevates, 
and  refines  it.     But  when  our  social  feel- 
ings are  indulged  at  the  expense  of  the 


136  YOUNG  CONVEKTS ;    OE, 

health  of  the  soul,  we  may  be  sure  that  they 
have  been  carried  too  far. 

One  evil  leads  to  another,  and  I  have 
been  told  that  often  these  parties  end  with 
dancing.  Dancing  in  Christian  homes  and 
by  Christian  people !  If  you  were  struck 
suddenly  with  a  fatal  disease  and  eternal 
realities  were  to  burst  upon  you  as  only  a 
death-bed  can  reveal  them,  would  you  send 
for  one  of  the  dancing  Christians  to  pray 
for  you  ?  Or  would  an  awakened  soul  go 
to  one  of  them  with  the  question  of  ques- 
tions, "What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved?" 
Dancing  begun  at  these  parties  leads  to  the 
ball-room,  the  ball-room  leads  to  the 
theatre,  that  to  the  bar-room,  and  the  whole 
to  perdition.  Take  the  following  incident 
from  the  experience  of  a  pastor: 

"A  most  interesting  work  of  grace 
occurred  in  a  Presbyterian  church  in  this 
city.  Many  anxiously  inquired  what  they 
should  do  to  be  saved.  Among  this  num- 
ber was  a  young  lady  who  listened  to  the 
voice  of  truth,  and  was  troubled.  Con- 
science spoke,  and  she  felt  the  claims  of 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  137 

God  on  her ;  but  she  could  not  now  attend 
to  the  matters  of  her  soul's  salvation.  On 
one  evening  the  meeting  was  more  than 
usually  interesting  and  solemn ;  the  next 
evening  a  ball  was  to  be  held,  and  from 
this  scene  of  solemnity  she  hurries  away, 
and  joins  in  the  giddy  dance.  By  the 
sound  of  the  violin  and  the  voice  of  melody 
she  aims  to  drown  the  admonitions  of 
conscience ;  and  for  a  little  time  she  suc- 
ceeded. Amid  the  display  of  fashion,  the 
glare  of  lights,  and  the  intoxication  of  the 
scene,  conscience  slumbered,  and  suffered 
the  gay  transgressor  to  revel  undisturbed 
in  forbidden  pleasure.  But  again  she  felt 
herself  a  sinner,  and  again  she  is  at  the 
meeting  for  conversation  and  prayer.  Her 
heart  is  the  seat  of  many  painful  emotions. 
The  claims  of  truth  and  duty  are  urged. 
She  would  yield — she  would  follow  the 
Saviour,  but  the  theatre,  the  ball-room,  her 
gay  companions,  how  can  she  crucify 
these  ?  Unfortunately  she  was  solicited  to 
attend  another  ball.  She  went.  Satan,  as 
an  angel  of  light,  shed  a  deceptive  radiance 
18 


138  rOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OK, 

over  the  scene;  she  tried  to  be  liapp^^ — 
tried  to  believe  that  her  seriousness  was 
melancholy,  and  that  she  had  yet  plenty  of 
time  to  prepare  for  eternity.  She  returned 
to  her  dwelling  ;  but  she  returned  to  die — 
to  die  without  hope.  "  I  did  not  think," 
said  she,  "that  I  should  have  to  die  so 
soon."  One  evening  at  the  inquiry  meet- 
ing; the  next  at  the  ball-room — gayest 
among  the  gay ;  a  few  nights  more,  and  she 
is  in  her  coffin.  One  week,  with  a  heart 
light  as  air,  she  goes  to  a  store  to  purchase 
trimmings  for  a  ball-dress;  on  the  next 
week  her  friends  go  to  the  same  store  to 
purchase  her  shroud." 

I  believe  it  was  the  Rev.  Eichard  Cecil, 
who,  when  travelling  in  a  stage-coach, 
heard  a  young  lady  talking  to  her  com- 
panion about  an  anticipated  ball.  "  O  !" 
said  she,  "I  do  enjoy  a  ball  so ;  I  enjoy  the 
thought  of  its  coming  on ;  I  enjoy  the 
pleasure  while  it  lasts  ;  and  I  like  to  think 
of  it  after  it  is  over,"  "  I  think,  madam," 
said  Mr.  Cecil,  "  there  is  a  fourth  pleasure 
that    you    have    forgotten    to    mention." 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS,  139 

"  Indeed,  sir,  I  don't  remember  it ;  wliat 
do  you  refer  to  ?"  "  The  pleasure  it  will 
afford  you,  madam,  when  you  come  to 
die."  The  remark  was  an  arrow  sent  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  and  led  to  her  conver- 
sion. 

Just  as  Satan  quoted  Scripture  even  to 
our  Lord,  so  do  men  quote  the  Bible  to 
defend  dancing.  David  dancing  before 
the  Lord,  as  an  expression  of  his  joy  when 
the  ark  of  God  was  restored ;  and  Miriam 
dancing  at  the  wonderful  national  deliver- 
ance  at  the  Red  Sea,  are  often  referred  to. 
That  was  the  mode  in  which  the  people  of 
the  East  expressed  their  joy,  just  as  rending 
their  garments,  or  throwing  dust  and  ashes 
upon  their  heads,  was  their  mode  of  ex- 
pressing sorrow.  AVe  have  no  instance  of 
promiscuous  dancing;  whenever  mentioned, 
the  sexes  are  separate.  This  was  the  case 
with  Miriam,  and  also  in  other  places, 
when  referred  to.  But  to  make  these 
cases  an  excuse  for  the  promiscuous  inter- 
mingling of  the  sexes,  the  indecent  polkas 
and  waltzes  of  modern  times,  the  shame- 


140  YOUNG  CONYERTS  ;    OR, 

less  exposure  of  person,  the  late  hours,  and 
all  the  many  evils  that  attend  the  ball-room, 
is  an  insult  to  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and  an 
outrage  upon  common  sense.  It  is  seeking 
to  make  the  source  of  all  truth  and  good- 
ness responsible  for  error  and  wrong. 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  professing 
Christians  going  to  the  theatre,  the  circus, 
and  such  like  places  of  resort  ?  The  best 
that  can  be  said  of  the  theatre  is,  that  it  is 
a  place  of  vain  amusement.  Now,  recre- 
ation and  amusement  are  sometimes  neces- 
sary ;  and  doubtless  there  are  amusements 
in  which  good  people  can  engage  with  the 
strictest  propriety,  and  with  advantage  to 
themselves,  both  physically  and  intellect- 
ually. But  the  theatre  is  not  one  of  them. 
It  has  been  well  said,  "  Amusements  must 
be  blameless,  as  well  as  ingenious  ;  safe,  as 
well  as  rational ;  moral,  as  well  as  intellect- 
ual. Whatever  pleasantry  of  idea,  what- 
ever gaiety  of  sentiment,  whatever  airiness 
of  expression,  should  we  not  jealously 
watch  against  any  unsoundness  in  the 
general  principle,  and  mischief  in  the  pre- 


BEGINNEES  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  141 

vailing  tendency?"  Tried  by  such  a  test 
the  theatre  is  a  place  utterly  unfit  for  good 
people  to  visit.  It  inculcates  false  prin- 
ciples of  action  and  false  views  of  life ;  it 
deadens  all  the  finer  feelings  of  our  nature, 
by  making  wounds,  shrieks,  groans,  mur- 
ders, assassinations,  the  subject  of  a  plea- 
sing excitement ;  and  in  short,  many  of  its 
most  popular  exhibitions  are  grossly  im- 
moral. 

Theatres  show  what  their  direct  ten- 
dencies are  by  gathering  around  them  the 
worst  houses  and  the  worst  characters  in  a 
community.  The  lowest  drinking  houses, 
gambling  hells,  and  places  of  public  infamy 
gather  as  if  by  attraction  around  the  the- 
atre. There  are  to  be  found  attracted  the 
swindler,  the  gambler,  the  black  leg,  the 
coarse,  the  vulgar,  the  blood-thirsty — vile 
men  and  shameless  women.  The  Common 
Council  of  Boston  at  one  time  prohibited 
liquor  from  being  sold  on  the  premises  ot 
the  Tremont  Theatre,  and  the  trustees  pub- 
licly protested  against  the  order,  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  impossible  to  support 


142  YOUNG  C0NVEKT8  ;    OE, 

the    theatre   without   it.     Are    these    the 
kind  of  places  that  Christians  should  pat- 
ronize ?     The  ancients  tell  a  story  of  a  holy 
monk  who  bitterly  reproached   the  devil 
for  stealing  a  young  man  who  was  found 
at  the   theatre,   when   Satan   replied,    "I 
found  him  on  my  premises,  and  took  him." 
The  theatre  has,  it  is  true,  been  called  a 
school  of  morals  ;  but  it  is  easy  to  give  the 
finest  names  to  the  vilest  things.     On  this 
point   the   Rev.    Dr.    Thompson,  of  Kew 
York,  says :  "  If  the  theatre  is  a  place  of 
wholesome   moral   influence — a   school   of 
virtue,  as  it  is  sometimes  called — then  it  is 
proper  for  me  as  a  Christian  minister  to 
frequent  it,  and  to  urge  my  church  to  do  so 
likewise.     But   this   would  be  considered 
quite  out  of  character  by  the  mass  of  play- 
goers.    And  why  ?     Not  merely   because 
of  my  profession,  but  because  the  theatre  is 
known  to  be  an  unfit  place  for  any  serious- 
minded  man.     Some  years  ago,  a  clergy- 
man residing    in  the  vicinity   of  Boston, 
visited  a  theatre  in  that  city  in  order  to 
study    the   elocution    of   a    distinguished 


BEGINNEES  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  143 

actor.  To  avoid  being  recognized,  lest  his 
example  should  do  injury,  he  took  his  seat 
in  the  pit  with  his  hat  drawn  over  his 
brow.  But  a  wag  near  by  soon  discovered 
who  he  was,  and  when  next  the  curtain 
dropped,  peering  under  the  discomfited 
clerygman's  hat,  he  pronounced  his  name 
aloud  with  an  oath  and  an  exclamation  of 
surprise,  and  then  added  with  mock  gra- 
vity— 'Let  us  pray.'  The  eftect  was 
highly  ludicrous.  The  audience  v^as  con- 
vulsed with  laughter.  But  why  so  ludic- 
rous ?  Is  prayer  a  ludicrous  thing  ?  Is  it 
ludicrous  far  a  sinful,  dependent  creature  to 
offer  supplication  to  his  Maker  ?  Xo ;  there 
is  a  great  deal  of  solemn  appealing  to 
heaven  even  on  the  stage.  Aside  from 
the  manner,  it  was  the  felt  incongruity  of 
the  thing  that  provoked*  a  laugh.  The 
thought  of  prayer  in  such  a  place,  the 
presence  of  a  Christian  minister,  or  of  any 
man  making  pretensions  to  piety,  amid 
such  scenes,  amused  that  pleasure-loving 
audience.  That  laugh  disclosed  the  char- 
acter of  the  place,  and  the  object  of  their 


14A:  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

assembling.     Prayer  in  a  theatre  would  be 
the  richest  farce." 

We  may  rest  assured  that  where  there  is 
a  taste,  a  craving  after  the  excitement  of 
worldly  amusements,  there  is  a  very  low 
state  of  religion  in  the  soul,  if  there  is  any 
religion  at  all.  The  soul  that  lives  near 
God  has  a  fullness  of  joy  and  peace  the 
most  satisfying.  The  soul  that  drinks  of 
the  river  of  life,  will  not  stoop  to  drink  of 
the  filthy  puddles  of  sin.  The  heart  in 
which  Christ  dwells  has  no  room  for  his 
enemies. 

"  'Tis  not  for  man  to  trifle!  Life  is  brief, 

And  sin  is  here. 
Our  age  is  but  the  falling  of  a  leaf, 

A  dropping  tear. 
We  have  no  time  to  sport  away  the  honrs, 
All  must  be  earnest  in  a  world  like  ours." 


HELPS  AND  HINDRANCES. 


^ulI^Y   DEAK  reader,  in  your  journey 
^Jj]J][[,  heavenward,  your  highest  interests 

W  require  that  you  should  avail  your- 
self of  all  the  heljps  you  can ;  having 
your  mind  deeply  impressed  with  your 
personal  responsibility  to  God.  A  young 
Christian  made  this  entry  in  his  diary : 
"  Resolved  that  I  will,  the  Lord  being  my 
helper,  think,  speak,  and  act  as  an  indi- 
vidual,'  for  as  such  I  must  live,  as  such  I 
must  die,  stand  before  God,  and  be  damned 
or  saved  forever  and  ever.  I  have  been 
waiting  for  others ;  I  must  act  as  if  I  were 
the  only  one  to  act,  and  wait  no  longer." 
Id 


146  TOUN&  CONVERTS ;    OE, 

That  is  just  what  is  wanted ;  not  to  be 
comparing  ourselves  with  others,  with  the 
members  and  office  bearers  of  the  church, 
and  setting  them  up  as  our  standard,  but 
each  aiming  at  eminent  personal  piety  for 
ourselves.  Each  must  work  for  God  every 
day,  as  if  there  was  not  another  worker  in 
the  world.  One  who  knew  Harlan  Page 
well,  says,  "  I  have  well  considered  the 
assertion  when  I  say,  that  during  nine 
years,  in  which  we  were  associated  in 
labors,  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  passed  an 
interview  with  him  long  enough  to  have 
any  interchange  of  thought  and  feeling,  in 
which  I  did  not  receive  from  him  an 
impulse  heaven-ward — an  impulse  onward 
in  duty  to  God  and  the  souls  of  men." 
He  did  not  wait  for  the  church  all  to  go  to 
work,  before  he  would  do  any  thing ;  but 
did  his  own  work  that  lay  around,  as  in 
God's  awful  sight. 

It  will  be  a  great  help  to  have  special 
seasons  set  apart  for  the  study  of  the  Bible, 
accompanied  with  much  earnest  prayer  for 
the    sanctifying    influences   of   the    Holy 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS,  147 

Spirit.  The  opinion  of  the  world,  the  stand- 
ard of  piety  in  the  church,  tlie  attainments 
of  deacons  and  ministers  in  personal  reli- 
gion, are  not  what  we  are  to  look  at,  but 
the  rules  that  God  lays  down  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. The  word  of  God  fixes  a  very  high 
standard  of  spirituality,  and  tells  us  that  to 
be  spiritually-minded  is  life  and  peace. 
Nothing  should  be  allowed  to  interfere 
with  our  hours  of  private  devotion.  It  is 
the  habit  of  some  Christians  to  take,  in  the 
morning,  a  short  portion  of  Scripture  to 
meditate  upon  during  the  da}^ ;  and  amid 
the  pauses  of  business,  or  as  they  have 
opportunity,  their  minds  recur  to  it.  This 
is  an  excellent  plan.  It  brings  the  soul 
into  direct  contact  with  God, — with  his 
thoughts  and  his  words. 

And  we  should  read  such  good  books  as 
we  find  have  a  reviving  and  spiritual  influ- 
ence upon  our  minds.  A  good  book  is  like 
a  good  companion ;  it  helps  us  on  in  our 
heavenly  journey.  I  can  never  forget  the 
happy  influence  exerted  upon  my  mind 
when  first  I  read  Baxter's  "  Saint's  Rest," 


148  TOTTNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

A  good  book  is  a  quiet,  silent  friend.     It 
lies  there  unobtrusively,  waiting  patiently 
till  we  are  ready  to  take  it  up,  and  then 
gives  us  the  glowing  thoughts  of  one  who 
may  now  be  rejoicing  among  the  angels  in 
heaven.     Eternity  alone   can  declare   the 
good  that  has  been  done  by  the  press  when 
consecrated  to  God.     It  is  impossible  to 
read   such   books    as   Jay's    "Exercises," 
Taylor's  "  Holy  Living,"  Owen  on  "  Spirit- 
ual-Mindedness,"  Cecil's  "Kemains,"  and 
Nevins's    "Practical   Thoughts,"    without 
feeling  that  they  draw  us  nearer  to  God 
and  heaven.     The  memoirs  of  good  people, 
such   as   Martyn,   Payson,  Brainerd,  Mc- 
Cheyne,    Isabella    Graham,    Dr.    Judson, 
Carey,  and  Mary  Lundie  Duncan,  are  very 
refreshing  to  the  soul.     We  catch  to  some 
extent  their  spirit,  share  with  them  in  their 
joys  and  sorrows,  and  learn  to  follow  them 
as  they  followed  Christ.     While  there  are 
many  very  bad  books,  so  bad  that  they 
seem  as  if  they  had  been  scooped  up  out  oi 
the  pit  of  perdition,  let  us  thank  God  that 
there  are  books  that  in  tens  of  thousands  oi 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  "WAYS.  149 

dwellings   are   speaking   for  God  with   a 
voice  that  never  tires. 

Do  not  neglect  to  pray  for  the  abiding 
presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  If  you  are  to 
have  solemn,  heavenly,  elevating  thoughts, 
the  Spirit  must  impart  them.  If  you  are 
to  loathe  sin,  pant  and  thirst  after  God, 
and  long  intensely  after  holiness  of  heart, 
the  Spirit  must  implant  these  feelings  in 
your  soul.  Every  glimmer  of  holy  light, 
every  spark  of  celestial  fire  that  comes  into 
our  darkness  and  coldness,  comes  from  this 
Divine  Agent.  Let  it  be  your  earnest, 
constant  prayer,  that  you  may  have  His 
presence  with  you. always.  In  the  burning 
words  of  Dr.  Harris,  be  urged  to  this  :  "  O, 
Christians,  is  there  such  a  doctrine  in  our 
creed  as  the  doctrine  of  Divine  influence? 
Is  there  such  an  Agent  in  the  church  as 
the  Almighty  Spirit  of  God  ?  Is  he  among 
us  expressly  to  testify  of  Christ — to  be  the 
great  animating  spirit  of  his  missionary 
church?  And  is  it  true  that  his  unlimited 
aid  can  be  obtained  by  prayer — that  we 
can  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 


150  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

with  fire?  O,  ye  that  preach,  'believe  the 
promise  of  the  Spirit,  and  be  sav^ed,'  Ye 
that  love  the  Lord,  keep  not  silence ;  send 
up  a  loud,  long,  united,  and  unsparing 
entreaty  for  his  promised  aid.  This  is 
what  we  want.  And  this  is  all  we  want. 
Till  this  be  obtained,  all  the  angelic  agency 
of  heaven  will  avail  us  nothing  ;  and  when 
it  is  obtained,  all  that  agency  will  be  un- 
equal to  the  celebration  of  our  triumphs." 

The  young  convert  must  endeavor  to 
cultivate  great  tenderness  of  conscience. 
Paul  said,  "  And  herein  do  I  exercise  my- 
self, to  have  always  a  conscience  void  of 
offence  toward  God,  and  toward  man." 
Young  converts  generally  have  a  tender 
conscience.  It  may  not  be  as  well  en- 
lightened as  it  should  be,  but  it  is  sensitive 
and  quick  to  speak  for  God.  But  if  it  is 
trifled  with,  the  whole  soul  will  soon  feel 
the  shock.  If  its  voice  is  frequently  stifled, 
and  its  admonitions  neglected,  the  soul  will 
soon  walk  in  darkness.  If  our  heart  con- 
demns us,  God  is  greater  than  our  heart, 
and  knoweth  all  things.     It  is  a  dreadful 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  151 

thinof  to  sin  so  that  a  man's  own  conscience 
becomes  his  bitterest  enemy.  A  pastor 
being  called  to  see  a  dying  man,  received 
from  his  li}3S  the  following  account  of  him- 
self: "Twenty  years  ago  I  was  a  member 
of  a  church  in  W.  I  was  tempted,  and 
quickly  yielded  to  the  poisonous  cup.  I 
became  intoxicated,  was  called  to  trial, 
refused  to  make  a  proper  acknowledgment, 
and  I  supj)Ose  my  name  was  stricken  from 
the  book.  But  God's  eye  has  watched  me 
ever  since  in  all  my  crooked  ways.  I  see 
how  reluctant  he  has  been  to  let  me  go. 
He  has  brought  me  in  a  way  that  I  knew 
not,  and  he  has  never  given  me  up.  O,  he 
has  been  so  good,  so  merciful,  so  kind,  so 
long-suifering  to  me  !" 

"But,"  said  the  pastor,  "how  do  you 
feel  when  you  think  how  you  have  treated 
him  ?" 

"0,"  said  he,  in  tones  of  deepest 
anguish,  "that's  what  hurts  me ;  that's  what 
hurts  me." 

Yes,  the  stings  of  a  rebuking  conscience 
are  hard  to  bear,  but   it   is  a   still   more 


152  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OE, 

dreadful  thing  to  have  a  conscience  that 
has  ceased  to  rebuke.  A  good  conscienc 
is  one  that  speaks  loud  enough  to  be 
heard ;  that  speaks  truth  when  it  is  heard  ; 
that  speaks  in  time  to  prevent  the  commis- 
sion of  evil ;  and  that  persevei-es  in  speak- 
ing till  it  is  obeyed.  James  Brainard 
Taylor  says  in  his  journal,  that  it  is  a  had 
sign  when  we  find  ourselves  looking  hack 
to  2)ast  Christian  experience  for  evidence  of 
piety.  And  the  professor  who  does  not 
keep  a  clear  conscience  is  nearly  always 
found  so  doing.  How  much  better  to  keep 
a  sweet,  present  consciousness  of  the  Divine 
favor,  like  the  man  who  when  asked  if  he 
wished  to  recover  or  not,  said,  "Really, 
my  friend,  I  do  not  care  which.  If  I  die,  I 
shall  be  with  God ;  if  I  live,  God  will  be 
with  me." 

We  come  now  to  speak  of  some  hin- 
drances that  lie  in  the  pathway  to  glory  ; 
with  which  this  little  volume  shall  close. 

Uniting  in  marriage  with  one  who  is  not 
a  professor  of  religion,  is  a  great  hindrance. 
There  is  no  earthly  relation  so  tender,  so 


BEGINNEKS  IN  ZION's  WAYS.  153 

intimate,  as  that  of  husband  and  wife.  If 
there  be  a  radical  difference  of  tastes  and 
inclinations  between  them ;  if  one  has  an 
indifference,  or  it  may  be  an  aversion,  to 
what  the  other  regards  of  supreme  impor- 
tance, there  is  a  sad  drawback  upon  th« 
happiness  of  both.  Especially  when  the 
subject  of  religion,  the  greatest  and  most 
important  that  can  engage  the  human 
mind,  is  the  subject  of  difference,  to  get 
along  at  all  there  will  be  a  resort  to  com- 
promises, and  these  in  religion  are  always 
dangerous.  We  have  enough  of  hin- 
drances to  encounter  from  our  own  hearts, 
from  the  world,  from  the  circumstances  in 
which  we  are  often  placed,  without  deliber- 
ately choosing  a  life-long  hindrance  in  our 
bosom  companion. 

Suppose  a  devotedly  pious  young  lady 
is  united  to  a  man  who  is  not  a  Christian. 
He  may  not  persecute  her  for  following  out 
her  religious  convictions,  though  that  is 
often  done,  but  he  will  have  no  sympathy 
with  her  in  those  things  that  are  dearest  to 
her  heart.  He  will  look  coldly  upon  her 
20 


154  YOUNG  CONVERTS ;    OR, 

relio-ious  feeling's   and  observances.     Per- 
haps  he  will  ev^en  sneer  at  them ;  at  first,  it 
may  be,  bj  way  of  joke,  but  afterwards  in 
bitter  earnest.     To  get  him  to  go  with  iier 
to  church,  she  is  tempted  to  promise  to  go 
with  him  to  places  that  her  conscience  does 
not  approve,  and  thus  a  great   wrong  is 
done   to   her    moral    nature.     No    family 
prayer,  no  spiritual   conversation,  no   co- 
operation from  him  she  loves  in  her  reli- 
gious enterprises,  and  no  good  Scriptural 
hope  of  spending  an  eternity  with  him  in 
heaven  ; — it  is  easy  to  see  what  a  sad  draw- 
back upon  religious  progress  all  this  will 
be.     It  is  true  she  may  be  the  means  of 
her  husband's  conversion,  but  alas !  it  is 
still  ofteuer  the  case  that  he  becomes  tlie 
cause   of  her   apostacy.     Every   pastor  is 
familiar  with  the  gradual  steps  of  declen- 
sion.    Her  class  at  the  Sabbath  School  is 
given  up.     She  is  found  missing  at    the 
prayer-meeting.     She  attends  but  once  on 
the  Lord's  day,  and  often  not  even  that. 
Her  duties  as  a  tract-distributor  are  given 
up ;  and,  in  short,  her  connection  with  the 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION's  WATS.  155 

church  becomes  a  mere  matter  of  form. 
"When  spoken  to  upon  the  subject  her  ready 
excuse  is,  "  You  know  that  my  husband  is 
not  a  professor  of  religion,  and  I  cannot 
do  as  I  would  wish." 

And  when  it  is  a  pious  husband  that  is 
joined  to  an  unconverted  wife,  the  influ- 
ence upon  him  is  equally  bad.  The 
power  of  woman's  influence  is  a  favorite 
topic  with  the  orator,  and  too  much  can 
scarcely  be  said  upon  it ;  but  is  a  power  for 
evil  as  well  as  for  good,  according  as  it  is 
exerted.  A  good  woman  is  a  crown  of 
glory  to  her  husband,  and  will  prove  a 
blessing  to  him,  both  for  time  and  eter- 
nity ;  but  many  a  promising  young  man 
has  been  utterly  ruined  by  uniting  himself 
to  an  unconverted  companion,  who  by  her 
gay,  thoughtless,  giddy,  and  extravagant 
conduct,  has  blasted  his  prospects  for  both 
worlds.  If  children  are  given  them,  the 
influence  of  the  mother  upon  them  is  disas- 
trous. In  short,  the  result  is  often  that  the 
husband  yields  point  after  point  to  the 
opposition  of  his  wife  till  there  is  little  left 


156  YOUNa  CONVERTS  ;    OR 

of  his  religion  but  the  name,  if  even  that  is 

not  gone.     "What  better  could  we  expect 

from  the  wilful   violation   of  God's   rule, 

"Be  not  unequally  joined  together  with 

unbelievers,"    and,    "Marry   only   in   the 

Lord." 

Another  great  hindrance  to  the  progress 

of  spiritual  religion  in  the  soul,  is  a  strong 
absorption  in  the  excitements  of  party  poli- 
tics. Of  course,  when  a  man  becomes  a 
Christian  he  does  not  cease  to  be  a  citizen, 
and  when  we  take  up  our  duties  in  the 
church,  we  are  not  absolved  from  those  in 
the  world.  True  relio-ion  is  the  friend  of 
human  liberty,  and  it  would  not  be  right 
for  good  people  to  give  over  national  affairs 
into  the  hands  of  the  ungodly.  The  Chris- 
tian is  as  responsible  for  the  proper  use  of 
his  vote,  as  for  any  other  talent,  and  should 
carry  his  religion  into  the  arena  of  politics, 
as  well  as  into  his  business. 

But  while  all  this  is  true,  it  is  no  excuse 
for  a  Christian  man  going  into  all  the 
squabbling,  wire-pulling,  and  absolute  chi- 
canery and  falsehood  of  political  parties. 


BEGINNEKS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  157 

He  cannot  attend  these  meetings  niglit 
after  night,  perhaps  to  the  entire  neglect  of 
his  religious  privileges,  and  hear  stump 
orators  rave,  and  sweai*,  and  misquote,  and 
sometimes  ridicule  the  word  of  God,  with- 
out great  injury  to  his  spiritual  nature.  In 
proportion  as  he  allows  himself  to  be  drawn 
into  the  whirlpool  of  excitement,  he  will 
feel  more  and  more  disposed  to  neglect  his 
Bible  and  his  closet,  and  even  the  house  of 
God  will  seem  a  dull  place  after  the  wild 
excitement  of  the  political  gathering.  It  is 
no  excuse  to  say  that  we  are  acting  on  the 
right  side  ;  for  a  right  thing  may  be  done 
in  a  wrong  way.  We  should  put  our  reli- 
gion into  our  politics,  and  not  our  politics 
into  our  religion.  The  frequency  with 
which  our  elections  occur  makes  the 
danger  from  this  source  the  greater. 

The  last  hindrance  I  would  mention,  is 
becoming  too  much  engaged  in  our  lawful 
worldly  business.  There  is  more  danger 
from  this  source,  because  it  is  j)roper  to  be 
diligent  in  business,  and  it  is  difficult  for 
us  to  discover  the  boundary  line  between 


158  YOUNG  CONVERTS  *,    OE, 

duty  to  ourselves  and  our  families,  and  tLe 
indulgence  of  worldly-mindedness  and  cov- 
etousness.  We  know,  however,  that  pros- 
perity has  a  tendency  to  harden  the  heart, 
and  that  the  attainment  of  wealth  here  has 
made  many  poor  forever.  When  Garrick 
was  showing  Dr.  Johnson  round  his  new 
house  and  estate,  and  through  his  splendid 
drawing-rooms,  he  said,  "Ah!  David, 
these  are  the  things  that  make  death-beds 
terrible."  Alas!  how  many  professing 
Christians  I  have  seen  make  their  business 
their  idol,  give  their  days  and  their  nights 
up  to  it,  till  it  seemed  as  if  they  had  not  a 
tliought  for  any  thing  else  !  The  fruit  such 
reap  is  misery. 

We  are  told  that  a  young  person  once 
expressed  to  Dr.  Franklin  his  surprise,  that 
the  possession  of  great  riches  should  so 
often  be  accompanied  with  anxiety  and 
unhappiness ;  and  referred  to  the  case  of  a 
rich  merchant,  who  did  not  seem  nearly  so 
happy  as  some  of  his  own  clerks.  The 
doctor  took  an  apple  from  a  fruit  basket, 
and  gave  it  to  a  child  in  the  room,  who 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZION^S  WAYS.  159 

could  scarcely  grasp  it  in  his  little  hand. 
He  then  gave  it  a  second,  which  filled  the 
other  hand,  and  then  choosing  a  third,  of 
great  size  and  beauty,  he  presented  that 
also.  The  child  tried  to  hold  the  three 
apples,  but  failed,  and  dropping  the  last  on 
the  floor,  burst  into  tears.  "See,"  said 
Franklin,  "there  is  a  little  man  in  the 
world  with  more  riches  than  he  can 
enjoy." 

Some  time  ago,-  two  gentlemen  stepped 
into  the  same  compartment  of  a  railway 
train,  just  as  it  was  starting  from  Green- 
wich to  London,  England.  One  was  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  the  other  a  rich 
merchant  of  high  standing  in  the  metropo- 
lis. The  merchant  held  in  his  hand  ,a 
circular  which  he  was  reading  with  great 
iineasiness,  and  at  last  he  exclaimed, 
"  Well,  that  is  enough  to  drive  any  one 
mad  !"  The  minister  looked  at  him  kind- 
ly and  said,  "  1  trust,  sir,  nothing  serious 
has  occurred  to  disturb  you."  "  Serious 
enough,  I  assure  you,"  was  the  reply ;  and 
he  handed   him  the  paper  he   had   been 


160  YOUNG  CONVEETS  ;    OE, 


reading.  The  minister  saw  that  it  was  a 
printed  list  of  the  prices  of  stock,  for  that 
day,  in  the  London  market.  Supposing 
that  he  had  lost  by  some  stock-jobbing 
speculation,  he  handed  the  paper  back  to 
the  merchant,  remarking  that  those  who 
meddled  with  such  matters  must  expect  to 
suffer  losses  sometimes.  "  Oh,"  said  he, 
"you  are  mistaken.  I  have  suffered  no 
loss.  But  the  truth  is  I  purchased,  some 
time  ago,  at  sixteen.  I  sold  a  few  days 
ago  at  forty-three,  and  now  I  find  from 
that  circular  that  I  might  have  got  forty- 
six  !  That's  the  thing  that  vexes  me  so 
much." 

The  minister  spoke  to  him  affectionately 
and  earnestly  about  his  soul,  and  upon 
asking  him  if  he  attended  any  place  of 
worship,  he  frankly  replied,  "I  go  to 
church  as  regularly  as  I  go  to  London  Ex- 
change ;  but  I  can't  say  that  I  get  much 
good,  for  the  world  rushes  on  me  like  a 
flowing  tide,  and  my  mind  becomes  dis- 
tracted with  thoughts  about  this  and 
thoughts  about  that,  so  that  the  best  ser- 


BEGINNERS  IN  ZIOn's  WATS.  161 

mons  are,  in  a  great  measure,  thrown  away 
on  me.  I  have  been  very  much  prospered, 
but  the  mischief  is,  the  more  I  make,  the 
more  miserable,  somehow,  I  become.  Why, 
sir,  in  business — business — business,  is  the 
only  essence  of  my  existence.  It  seems 
absolutely  necessary  to  my  life,  and  yet, 
alas !  strange  to  say,  it  is  proving  the  only 
bane  of  it.  I  am  becoming  its  veriest 
drudge,  and  its  most  abject  slave,  and  how 
I  am  to  rid  myself  of  it  is  more  than  I  can 
tell."  Poor  man !  while  he  thus  poured 
out  his  feelings  he  became  very  much 
affected,  and  wept  very  bitterly. 

As  my  pastoral  duties  have  lain  mostly' 
in  cities,  I  have  seen  a  great  deal  of  this 
kind  of  thing ; — men  killing  themselves  by 
inches,  body  and  soul,  in  the  service  of 
mammon.  Of  course  this  is  done  under 
some  pious  pretence,  such  as  wanting  only 
to  obtain  a  competence,  to  provide  for  their 
own  households,  and  to  obtain  means  to  do 
good.  But  in  almost  every  case  of  this 
extreme  devotion  to  business,  it  is  the  love 
of  gain  that  is  the  propelling  motive.  As 
21 


162  YOUNG  CONVERTS  ;    OR, 

some  one  has  aptlj  said,  "  Many  men  want 
wealtli — not  a  competence  alone,  but  a 
five-story  competence;  and  religion  they 
would  like  as  a  sort  of  lightning-rod  to 
their  houses,  to  ward  off,  by  and  by,  the 
bolts  of  divine  wrath." 

This  grasping  spirit  of  avarice  and  spec- 
ulation is  like  the  morbid  appetite  of  the 
drunkard,  strengthened  and  increased  by 
indulgence.  All  the  warm,  generous  im- 
jmlses  of  the  soul  become  repressed  and 
die  out.  The  heart  becomes  contracted  by 
selfishness.  The  ey&s  have  nothing  look- 
ing out  of  them  but  greedy  cunning.  A 
good  bargain  has  far  more  attractions  than 
a  good  action.  The  noble,  generous,  bene- 
volent souls  around  us,  that  are  blessing 
the  world  with  deeds  of  love,  are  not  those 
who  are  very  rich.  A  wide  heart  and  a 
wide  estate  seldom  go  together.  Indeed, 
the  man  who  does  his  duty  to  his  God  and 
to  his  fellow  men  can  never  be  very  rich. 
A  man  can  only  become  very  rich,  either 
by  defrauding  others^  or  by  defrauding  him- 
self.    Many  a  man  who,  in  his  business 


BEGINNEKS  IN  ZIOn's  WAYS.  163 

trausactions,  has  been  strictly  honest  to 
those  with  whom  he  has  traded,  has  been 
dishonest  to  himself;  and  when  he  dies,  it 
may  be  said  of  him,  as  "Wesley  said  of  one, 
"  He  died  wickedly  richP 

My  reader,  seek  the  trne  riches — be  rich 
toward  God.  Yonr  fields  may  be  fruitful 
but  your  heart  barren.  Your  shop  may  be 
prospering,  but  your  soul  bankrupt.  Ton 
may  have  a  hospitable  home  in  which  you 
entertain  your  friends  in  a  princely  style, 
while  you  shut  the  door  of  your  heart  in 
your  Saviour's  face.  Oh  seek  the  pearl  of 
great  price !  Lay  up  treasure  in  heaven, 
where  funds  never  depreciate,  and 
where  gold  never  changes  its  value. 
With  your  weary,  worn,  troubled  heart, 
restless  as  the  heaving,  moaning  sea,  cling 
to  Jesus  for  sweet  repose.  Weary  of  the 
world,  with  its  wasting  cares,  and  toils, 
and  unsatisfying  pleasures — weary  of  your- 
self, with  your  broken  vows,  and  empty 
resolutions,  and  purposeless  determinations, 
cling  by  faith  to  Him  who  has  promised  to 
give  rest  to  your  soul. 


164  YOUNG  CONVEKTS, 


(t 


Jesiis,  while  this  rough  desert-soil 
I  tread,  be  Thou  my  guide  and  stay; 

Nerve  me  for  conflict  and  for  toil — 
Uphold  me  on  my  stranger- way. 

Jesus,  in  heaviness  and  fear, 

'Mid  cloud,  and  shade,  and  gloom  I  stray; 
For  earth's  last  night  is  drawing  near — 

Oh  cheer  me  on  my  stranger  way. 

Jesus,  in  solitude  and  grief, 

When  sun  and  stars  withhold  their  ray, 
Make  haste,  make  haste  to  my  rehef — 

Oh  light  me  on  my  stranger- way. 

Jesus,  in  weakness  of  this  flesh, 
When  Satan  grasps  me  for  his  prey; 

Oh  give  me  victory  afresh, 
And  speed  me  on  my  stranger-way. 

Jesus,  my  righteousness  and  strength, 
My  more  than  life,  my  more  than  day; 

Bring,  bring  deliverance  at  length — 
Oh  come  and  end  my  stranger- way." 


•A.    J 


*     *t  . 


*  f 


DATE  DUE 

1 

HM          r-i    j-»         /' 

i 

RrW    2  9 

TO  APR   2 

5  1974 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  U    S    A. 

M-  ■  ■: 


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